


And Sometimes Change is a Good Thing

by ashlee1068



Category: Homestuck, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, Friendship, Gamzee is random, Gen, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, aliens are weird, makeshift family, some fights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-06 22:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4239108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashlee1068/pseuds/ashlee1068
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somewhere along the way to the Post-Scratch session, the Alpha timeline was diverged from- only, instead of being doomed, the kids entered a new Alpha, a world where superheroes are quickly becoming commonplace. More importantly, a world free of Sburb and incredibly generous with its second chances. The Avengers try their best to live up to their status as intergalactic diplomats. Adopted from scritchscratchsketch on fanfiction.net!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tony: Seek the Light Source

Tony Stark rubbed his eyes blearily as he trudged down one of the little-used hallways in Avengers Tower. He'd been avoiding Pepper's worrying earlier by pretending to nap, but at some point that nap became reality. Now it was some ungodly hour in the morning and he was half-heartedly exploring whatever floor he'd fallen asleep on as he attempted to locate the bathroom. Calling on JARVIS's assistance just didn't seem right at the moment; there was an unusually still silence that Tony couldn't bring himself to break.  
  
Turning another corner, he was startled to see a faint light shining out from a partially open door. As far as he knew, the other Avengers mostly stuck to their own floors when they stayed here, and JARVIS definitely would have woken him up if an intruder tried to sneak in. Much more awake now than he was a minute ago, Tony straightened up and made an effort to quiet his footsteps on the cold granite floor. Due to his unexpected nap earlier, he was still wearing his Mark Seven bracelets and didn't doubt JARVIS's efficiency in getting his suit to him if need be. Pushing open the door without a sound, he found that the room was a library of sorts. Tony vaguely remembered telling the moving company to put his dad's old books wherever the hell they wanted; Pepper must have given them a bit of further instruction. No wonder he hadn't visited this room yet. Books were quickly becoming a thing of the past for him with the number of tablets he owned.  
  
The light didn't seem to be artificial. Instead, it was more like the rays of an afternoon sun, minus the warmth. Another oddity was its brightness- it was no dimmer or brighter now than it was in the hallway, and its reach extended only to him. The bookshelves around him were still draped in shadow, but the path ahead was clear. While it definitely was not human, Tony relaxed a bit at the lack of obvious malevolence it exuded. Padding past one last shelf of dusty, leather-bound books, he nearly jumped at the sudden presence of another person.  
  
"Hello, Mister Stark," said the girl currently making herself comfortable on an old loveseat. A pale hand tucked a lock of jaw-length corn silk hair behind an orange hood while the other closed the thick tome she'd been reading and set it on the table beside her. Not a single lamp was in sight, but the gentle light from before almost seemed to envelop the small space she lounged in. Her clothing reminded Tony of both pajamas and something more exotic; a short-sleeved golden dress was slit on each side to reveal orange leggings to match the pointed orange hood that covered her eyes. On her chest was sewn a yellow sun with wavy tendrils, and dainty blue ballet flats covered her feet. Overall, she couldn't have been older than sixteen, but she was unusually radiant in her self-confidence for her age. "I offer my apologies for the unexpected visit, but I am afraid that this is something that is required to happen sooner rather than later."  
  
"As pretty as you are, babe, you're a bit young for me," Tony shot back, smiling broadly to hide his confusion. Why hadn't JARVIS picked up on her?  
  
Her dark lips twitched up into a half-smile. "In another timeline, perhaps. Presently, though, I wish to discuss a few subjects with you. I understand that you are well-known as one of the most brilliant people of this age, and are not all that unfamiliar with the unfamiliar?"  
  
"You mean the alien invasion a few months back?" Tony asked as he sunk himself onto the small couch to the girl's left, still fingering his bracelets worriedly. This girl certainly didn't seem evil, but at the same time, she was definitely not what someone might define as normal. Momentarily giving up his usual talkativeness, he settled down to listen to what she had to say.  
  
"Precisely. Congratulations on your victory, by the way. We've all seen the footage."  
  
"Thanks, I think." Who was 'we,' exactly? 'We' was very rarely a good thing coming from mysterious aliens in Tony's book.  
  
"Actually, this could serve as a wonderful beginning topic, now that I think of it…" The mischievous smirk on the girl's face faded into something more neutral. "Your suicide mission is what drew us here."  
  
"Okay, okay, let's back up a bit here," Tony said hurriedly. "This is very nice and cryptic and all, but you've got to see that even by my standards, this is a little weird. Can we start with a little more explaining on your part before you launch into something long and detailed that I won't understand a word of? Not because I'm not a genius, mind you, I'm just going off the general 'intergalactic foreigner' vibe I'm getting here."  
  
The girl froze for a moment during which Tony feared he might have said something wrong like he usually did before unexpectedly laughing. "You are definitely not the first person to ever request that particular boon, I'm afraid," she said as her giggling died down a bit. "Apparently heroes of light such as myself are known for their sesquipedalian loquaciousness." Noticing Tony's intake of breath, she swiftly interrupted his oncoming questioning with, "If I explained every detail to you now, we would be sitting here until dawn. I will spare you the story behind it all in favor of the details that apply to you. Would that suit you, Mister Stark?"  
  
"Tony. And yeah, let's go with that. In fact, let's start with who are you and how the hell did you get past JARVIS?"  
  
"Don't worry. I refrained from tampering with your AI for the time being. In fact, I could not have gotten through your multitudes of security measures just yet even had I wanted to. I've yet to arrive here, after all."  
  
"That… answered nothing," Tony replied, slightly annoyed but still intrigued. "Fine. Be mysterious. But can I at least know who I'm talking to here? Before I say something to screw this up or you suddenly reveal you're here to kill me?"  
  
Shrugging off the orange hood, the girl's mischievous smile returned in full force. "I am a child of prophecy. A Seer of Light. A Derse Dreamer. A savior of the dreaming dead. A dark wizard. One of the sole survivors of the Pre-Scratch universe. A player of the game. A sister. A friend. A New Yorker. But my given name will always be Rose Lalonde." Light violet eyes scrutinized him, waiting for a reaction of any kind.  
  
"Well, damn," Tony sighed melodramatically, relaxing back into the couch, "looks like I've finally been outdone in the title game. And, going on the fact that you've entered the most prolific tower in New York and you've already called me by name twice, along with the fact that I've made it my personal mission to make sure there isn't a single person on Earth who doesn't know who I am, you already know all mine?"  
  
Rose didn't miss a beat. "Tony Stark. Genius. Billionaire. Playboy. Philanthropist. Inventor. Ex-weapons manufacturer. And, more recently, Iron Man. Avenger. Hero."  
  
"Anyone ever tell you you're a bit of a know-it-all?"  
  
"Often. Has this served as a satisfactory introduction? I only have until the sun rises to explain the purpose in my artificial presence in your current plane of existence, and my companion informs me your sun will show its face in… Of course. In forty-one minutes and thirty-four point thirteen seconds. Would I not be wrong in stating that it is six-twelve am at the moment?"  
  
A quick glance at the phone Tony had thought to bring with him confirmed it, but he couldn't understand why Rose found it so funny. No, he took that back- this laugh, unlike the last, was certainly not happy. It was a little bitter and almost nostalgic.  
  
Rose took a moment to compose herself before continuing. "Excuse me. Those numbers in particular have just been a more than a little redundant in past years. Moving on- your suicide mission. In order to save newly-acquired friends and teammates, you diverted a bomb aimed to destroy the battlefield and instead directed it to the enemy's main power source. Correct me if my information bears any falsities. Rumors are easily distorted."  
  
"You're good," Tony found himself saying. He really wanted to see where this was going now, and why this maybe-alien chick was so drawn to his almost offing himself for what was probably the millionth time since he'd become Iron Man. The girl's lips pursed as she considered what she was going to say next.  
  
"I… That is to say, my brother and I… we attempted something similar, once. Three years ago, actually. We were thirteen. I thought I understood what I was doing. I had been contacting someone who I thought… He wasn't our main enemy, but he presided over a vital power source that gave the one hunting us the unfortunate trait of omnipotence. The one I'd been talking with was omniscient, but back then I was confident that I could get the upper hand on anybody given a thorough psychoanalysis. We had already been provided with a bomb, and if it didn't destroy this, than it would have destroyed all of us anyway. We would kill two birds with one stone, I believe the saying is. Just like you did. There are many parallels, and though they are what drew my sight to this version of Earth in the first place, it's the differences that interest me. Our actions only served to create the very Green Sun we set out to extinguish, while you were able to complete your mission successfully. It's a sign, I'm sure of it. This place is different.  
  
"However, none of this would have been of any consequence at all to you if the timeline hadn't split again. I'm not entirely sure what caused it, but we are no longer in the Alpha timeline. Normally, at this point we would consider the timeline doomed and settle down to await our imminent deaths and the timeline's deconstruction by the Horrorterrors, but for some reason… rather than entering an inferior timeline, it feels as though we have accidentally split off into an entirely parallel universe. Nothing is being deconstructed- it's as if we are now in this world's Alpha timeline. It's very… liberating." Rose smiled expectantly and crossed her hands in her lap.  
  
A year ago, Tony would have called bullshit and politely escorted her through the front door before going down to his bar to grab a Scotch. But then again, a year ago Tony had not yet fought an army of lizard aliens alongside a recently defrosted World War Two legend, a green radiation beast, and the Norse god of thunder, among others. So instead of laughing at this girl's farfetched speech, he took a moment to consider it.  
  
"So what you're saying," he began, "is that you and your brother have somehow exited your own universe and hopped through a rift into ours."  
  
"We're not here yet," Rose reminded him. "We're in between at the moment. At the speed we're travelling, we will arrive in less than a week."  
  
"Then why are you talking to me now? And why me, by the way? I'm an inventor, not really a space-time guy. Also, I still don't get how you're here but not really and why JARVIS didn't pick up on you. JARVIS is all-knowing, I swear, and I think he's starting to develop a bit of an attitude, but that's not important right now."  
  
"And finally, we arrive at the point of this discussion."  
  
"JARVIS's back-talking problem?" Tony quipped.  
  
"Yes, Tony Stark, I have pinpointed this exact place and time to first give you a smidgen of exposition on our current dilemma and then to really get down to business and suggest parenting courses for inventors whose AIs are sassing them back as the robotic equivalent of puberty rears its ugly head. It was of utmost importance that I bear this news before the fragile atmosphere at home is ruined by a robot-hormone-fueled off-hand remark that leaves you questioning your ability as a good artificial father."  
  
Tony laughed at her straight-faced sarcasm. "Y'know, with all your doomsday talk, I nearly forgot you were a teenager, punk."  
  
Rose teasingly stuck her tongue out before returning to her more serious demeanor. "You wished to know why I chose now to confer with you?" Tony nodded and leaned forward a bit more in his seat. "Three years ago, during our escape, my friends and I had to split up into two different vessels. Myself, my twin, and four others are hurtling towards you on an asteroid. We'll slow it down, don't worry," she added as Tony's eyes widened in alarm. "But our other two friends, our leader and his twin sister, are due to arrive on a Prospitian battleship this morning. The reason I contacted you, specifically, is that while you may not consider yourself the leader of the Avengers, you are in a position to make things happen, you might say. That, and… I do believe the ship is plummeting straight towards the Atlantic Ocean. A mile or two off your coastline, actually. While I believe in my friends' abilities to prevent a tsunami that would destroy much of New York, they will have absolutely no idea what is going on and might attempt to abscond and only get themselves lost. I would politely request that you explain to them what I have explained to you and keep them in place until the rest of us arrive."  
  
"Newly appointed alien ambassador, got it." Tony was entirely sure that his tired brain just wasn't processing all of this. He supposed that maybe he should have taken Fury a bit more seriously when he was going on about how Earth was about to become an intergalactic hotspot thanks to the Avengers. Although, to be fair, Rose Lalonde didn't seem too non-human; neither did Thor and Loki, he reminded himself, but at least they had the weird armor and archaic speech patterns that set them apart. Rose seemed almost every bit a too-smart-for-her-own-good sixteen-year-old girl going through a bit of a goth phase, if the lipstick was any indication. But then, at the same time, there was something more ethereal about her. She was human, but not the kind of human Tony was.  
  
"As lovely as this chat has been, I should take my leave in a moment, as this talk is nearly complete. One last word, if I may?"  
  
"Of course," Tony replied easily. Suddenly, Rose lost any trace of playfulness she had been sporting before. Tony suddenly wasn't so sure if maybe he had underestimated her un-humanness; waves of raw power were radiating off her, even though he was certain that this was only a projection of her real self.  
  
"If you or anybody you associate with so much as harm a hair on either of their heads," she hissed, "there will be infinitely more than hell to pay when we arrive. They are two of the purest souls this cruel game we have been playing has left uncorrupted and they do not deserve a single death more than they have already suffered through." Oceans of something dark and dangerous and untouchable swirled in her unnaturally colored eyes and Tony was sharply reminded of his time in Afghanistan and eyes that had seen more than they ever should have and were changed by it.  
  
"I would never dream of it," Tony said gravely. Rose nodded her head and there was a moment of silence before the lights flickered on and Rose's figure seemed to dissolve under their brightness.  
  
"Tony?" Pepper called from the library's entrance. Tony turned around in his couch to see her round the corner and enter his line of vision. "What are you doing in here? It's almost seven in the morning. I could have sworn I heard you talking with somebody."  
  
"Just catching up on some…" Tony leaned over to see the title of the thick novel Rose had been reading when he had entered. "Uh, Complacency of the Learned."  
  
Pepper's nose wrinkled a bit as she came to stand behind the couch. "I had to read a bit of that monster in college. I was having nightmares for days. I think everybody in my course was kind of glad that it's the only book R. Lalonde ever wrote. Whoever they were, their mind was twisted, but they sure had a way with words. Tony, what are you doing?"  
  
Tony had scrabbled for the book and held it up to his eyes disbelievingly. Sure enough, R. Lalonde was signed in small, elegant handwriting under the title. He had a feeling that things were going to get more than a little complicated very soon. Surely seven in the morning wasn't too early for a little pick-me-up?

 


	2. Tony: Forget Important Details

Taking another sip of his whiskey-laced cappuccino, Tony leaned back in his leather chair as the rest of the Avengers present contemplated his unusual story. His brief talk with Rose left his mind too busy to allow him to sleep in until his usual waking hours, so he'd made his way to the kitchenette on the common floor and waited for the others to arrive. After recovering from the initial shock of seeing Tony up so early without pulling an all-nighter, they'd agreed to sit down and hear him out, not expecting the improbable recap he provided them of Rose's visit.  
  
"And you're sure you weren't drunk?" Clint asked again. Tony didn't even bother gracing him with a response this time, sighing exasperatedly into his cup and rolling his eyes.  
  
Bruce, who had been thinking quietly for a minute or so, spoke up next. "Could you possibly expand on what you meant by this girl not being 'normal?'"  
  
"She looked human enough," Tony said, furrowing his brow a bit. "But she had this sort of presence. Like, she looked human, and she acted human, and all of her mannerisms seemed human, but… If 'human' was a rung on the evolutionary ladder, she was one above that."  
  
"Do you think she was Asgardian?" Natasha asked seriously from her place next to Clint on the barstools. She'd been the only one taking Tony's retelling analytically from the start, which he was grateful for.  
  
"No, Rose was definitely not a Norse goddess. I'm pretty sure she called herself a 'seer of light,' though, along with a bunch of other stuff that made even less sense than that one." After having JARVIS perform a thorough search on the more fantastic names she had used to refer to herself, Tony had found a frustrating lack of anything enlightening in the least and achieved similar results with the 'mysterious' author R. Lalonde. Tony shook his head and turned his attention back to the others. "Cap," he said good-naturedly, "you've been unusually quiet this morning. Any theories? Breakthroughs? Astounding epiphanies? Revela-"  
  
"I just don't understand," Steve interrupted, setting his coffee cup on the glass table next to him. "What would drive a girl and her brother to resort to going on a suicide mission when they were only thirteen? And who was hunting them? I'm not even going to start on all the timeline nonsense, but you have to wonder exactly what kind of world they're coming from."  
  
Natasha looked concerned. "Just because they're kids doesn't mean they should be underestimated. What if they were being hunted because they were a threat?" Bruce and Clint murmured in agreement, and Tony couldn't help but remember the dangerously protective look in Rose's eyes when she'd warned him not to hurt the arriving twins.  
  
Speaking of which- "Hey, guys." The other four turned their attention to Tony once more as he spoke over the escalating debate that had started up. "I maaaay have forgotten something when I told you guys about this earlier."  
  
Clint's eyes narrowed at his sheepish confession, but before he could speak, the overhead crackled to life and Fury's voice filled the room. "Avengers, assemble and meet up at the tower's launch pad in five minutes." A few more inquisitive glances were thrown at Tony as everybody rushed to their rooms to grab equipment and supplies. Downing the rest of his lukewarm drink, he placed the cup in the sink before heading to the elevator that would take him to his workroom and his suit.  
  
Five minutes later found Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, and Doctor Bruce Banner being buffeted by insanely strong winds on the launch pad. Upon stepping out of the elevator, Natasha, Clint, and Bruce all immediately crouched low to the ground to avoid being swept off the roof and crabwalked to the Quinjet while the more sturdy heroes did their best to make a mad dash towards the Quinjet's relative safety. Once all five were safely inside and Steve had pulled the door shut, the Quinjet rose sideways, the howling wind pushing them westward.  
  
"Avengers," Fury greeted from one of the passenger seats.  
  
"What the hell is that wind?" Clint snapped back at the same time Tony replied "Nice day out, isn't it?"  
  
Fury waited for the heroes to take a seat with a grim visage before beginning the debriefing in earnest. "A little past four a.m. this morning, winds all along the northeast coast started picking up at an unprecedented rate. As of now, if it gets any stronger we're going to have to issue a hurricane warning. Our monitors are showing the beginnings of one only a couple miles away, which should be impossible due to the utter lack of tropical weather up here. Even weirder is the fact that not only has it not moved at all, it's actually repulsing clouds instead of drawing them in and reducing visibility. Clear skies extend from one point above the Atlantic for six miles in all directions. This is not a natural storm. Your job is to find the source and take it out before any major damage gets done to the coastline, either by the wind or the waves. We clear?"  
  
"Crystal, sir," Steve replied earnestly, assuming his position as team leader.  
  
"Good. Captain, Hawkeye, and Black Widow will be taking the two smaller jets in the cargo hold and Iron Man is flying on his own. Doctor Banner, you'll be monitoring any readings of unnatural energy here in the Quinjet. The rest of you will be dropped off in the eye of the storm. Everybody has their comms?" A round of nods confirmed this and they were dismissed to their individual duties.  
  
Moments before their departure, the wind quieted abruptly; the eye had been found. In quick succession, Iron Man and the two fighter jets took off into the deceivingly blue sky. A brief command to JARVIS had Tony flying straight up, determined to go until he found either the cause of this mess or a clear vantage point of the unusual storm. He had his suspicions, though, and he figured he better tell the others before he landed them in major trouble. "Remember that part of the story I left out?" he asked into the intercom.  
  
"Can this wait?" Steve's voice replied tersely.  
  
"Nah, I'm getting this feeling that it's going to be pretty relevant in the near future."  
  
"Don't stall, Iron Man," Natasha demanded.  
  
"Okay, okay! So when I asked Rose about why she chose to talk to me now and not some other time-"  
  
"Rose?" Fury asked intimidatingly. Damn, Tony'd forgotten to tell him. He was just a mess this morning, wasn't he?  
  
"Long story short, some possibly alien chick visited this morning and told me that she and her buddies are going to be arriving here pretty soon; there's six of them where she's at, but two are due to arrive early and I'm pretty sure this is them. She got really scary when she told me that we better not hurt them so I don't think going in and shooting at whatever this is is really the best idea."  
  
"And you couldn't have mentioned this sooner?" growled the commander.  
  
A startled sound from Bruce could be heard in the background of Fury's comm, and his own flickered to life moments later. "We're getting huge energy readings directly above you, Tony. Something just broke through the atmosphere and it's no small space rock. We'll have visuals in a second, but I think it might be slowing down."  
  
Sure enough, Tony could see the beginnings of a small golden blur when he looked up. "JARVIS, zoom in on that." Closer inspection revealed an ornately gilded golden ship that had to be the size of the Helicarrier; the sunlight it reflected almost made it painful to look at. Just as Tony was about to add power to his thrusters and fly closer, a small box of red text appeared on his helmet's screen.  
  
TG: whoa bad idea dude that ship is still going pretty fucking fast  
  
TG: id advise backing up a few hundred feet unless you wanna be knocked out of the air by that monster  
  
TG: just let them handle it on their own theyre pretty strong kids  
  
TG: jesus i feel like their dad or some shit  
  
TG: i know you can do it junior youre a tough kid  
  
TG: now go punch that ten ton battleship i believe in your ability  
  
TG: not you though iron man  
  
TG: you can just chill and watch the show  
  
TG: but youre gonna have to catch them in a minute so dont wander off too far got it  
  
"What the hell…?" For the second time that morning Tony was baffled at the easy invasion of his space. The text box closed just in time for Tony to watch as something blue launched off of the now much closer battleship. Twisting in the air, the small shape made its way to the front of the ship that was currently pointed directly downwards. As he flew out of the ship's path, Tony zoomed in even more and was startled to find that the blue thing had a distinctly human figure.  
  
"We have a visual," Bruce announced suddenly. "Are you guys seeing this?"  
  
"You mean the person that just flew out the ship?" Tony asked. "It almost looks like they're trying to catch it."  
  
"Do you think they're alright?" Cap sounded worried. "There's no way they're actually trying to catch it, right?"  
  
Now that the ship was only a couple hundred feet from where Tony was hovering and quickly closing the distance, he turned on the live feed from his helmet so the others could watch as he ventured closer. As he reached the point of the ship, he turned his thrusters skyward in order to keep up with the leviathan's speed. Turning his head to get a good look at the person in blue, Tony was shocked, though at this point he supposed he shouldn't have been.  
  
"Is that a kid?" Steve asked incredulously. Sure enough, at the tip of the hull, a skinny boy with a shock of black hair seemed to be pushing wind against the ship. The air all around them was focused on this one point; he was slowing the ship down, Tony realized. Light blue pajamas accompanied by yellow sneakers and what could only be described as a long, blue windsock hood flapped wildly in the wind as the boy put everything he had into gathering and concentrating the wind power. The determined look was replaced with one of surprise and a bit of apprehension as he noticed Tony flying near him. His eyes flicked between the ship and Iron Man, trying to decide which he should focus on.  
  
Taking a bit of pity on the poor kid, Tony flew in closer and started firing his own energy at the ship's hull. With the three jets zipping around them, they kept at it until the ship was almost nearly stopped at less than a hundred feet above the churning ocean water. Tony, acknowledging that his own power wasn't needed now that the boy was keeping it from falling straight into the ocean purely through wind power, turned his hands and feet downwards once again.  
  
As he turned, a black form flew past him despite the wind and settled next to the boy. A girl in a long black dress was now hovering in the air, arranging what almost looked like five detailed rubber balls around her via a few hand motions. The last one was locked into place and a crackling green pentagram began to glow under her feet. Smiling serenely, she formed two opposite L-shapes with her hands and slowly started bringing them together. Unbelievably, the mammoth battleship was shrinking in time with the space between her hands and the wind lessened as the boy put less and less effort into propelling it. Finally, when it had reached the size of a child's toy, a quick beckoning motion summoned the ship and the five orbs to circle around her hand and the pentagram disappeared.  
  
The wind continued to dwindle rapidly and the girl looked worriedly to her counterpart, who seemed to be wavering in the air. Thanks to the red text, Tony knew what was going to happen before it did; the girl had just wrapped her arms around the boy when he stopped floating altogether. Before they could drop more than a few feet, Tony caught them easily. Both kids were rather gangly and light enough for him to handle without a problem.  
  
The boy was out cold. His blue windsock hood dangled beneath them, revealing a multitude of cowlicks in his black hair. Square glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, miraculously firmly in place despite the fall. Those, accompanied with the light sprinkling of freckles and slight overbite, made him look more than a little nerdy, but Tony found that the look seemed to suit him. The girl, on the other hand, had an absolute mess of long black hair that had fallen out of the twin-tailed hood. Ruby slippers and striped stockings accompanied a loose black dress that Tony swore he could see stars in. The detail that startled him, though, was the pair of furry white ears sticking up from her head eagerly. Bright green eyes blinked at him from behind circular lenses and she smiled, revealing an overbite similar to the boy's.  
  
"Thanks for the catch!" she said appreciatively, as if he'd just caught a fruit that had fallen out of her shopping cart. "I thought this might happen. John's been trying to slow us down all day. I don't think any of us have ever done something for so long; it's incredibly draining. We were almost the speed of light earlier, so I'm really glad we had a plan in place for this. Crash landing probably would have hurt." No, crash landing would have killed them, Tony thought.  
  
He had almost forgotten he was streaming the footage to the jets before Fury said, "We're bringing the jets to you. Get in here and then we'll take them to the Helicarrier for questioning."  
  
"Fine, fine, Patch. But I hope you're not under the impression you can leave me out of this." Laughing at the tortured sigh from Fury, Tony did his best to stay balanced using only the two thrusters on his feet while he waited for the Quinjet. He watched the two small fighter jets get loaded back onto the sleek plane before it slowly descended in his direction.  
  
"That is such a cool plane," the girl was gushing. "I wish I had a plane like that! I'd fly everywhere and see all my friends whenever I wanted to- actually, I guess that it doesn't do universe-hopping, huh. Well, whichever friends are currently on Earth! This is Earth, right? I'm not just in a dream bubble, am I? But how could I be dreaming of this place when I've never seen it before? Ah, I'm asking you all these questions, but I don't even know what species you are! Can you talk? Wait, that's silly, you were just talking!"  
  
Tony took the opportunity to speak as she paused for breath before she continued her onslaught of queries. "Last time I checked, I was human, and this was Earth. Never heard of a dream bubble, though. Also, you said that ship was going almost the speed of light earlier- how the hell did you slow it down with only wind?"  
  
"Like I said, John's been working on it all day." The "obviously" was implied. "We've had the math worked out for years now. But… I don't think this is where we're meant to be. It feels different than it should. I don't suppose there are any new games coming out soon?"


	3. Jade: Be Enigmatic

You are now Jade Harley.  
  
That's silly though, isn't it, because you've always been Jade Harley. Something just feels different this time, you suppose. Actually, a lot of things feel different in this place. But that doesn't matter right now because you are talking to a human who isn't John or Davesprite (he's human enough for you, at least, so shoosh) for the first time in three years! Well, talking at him. You haven't really given him much room to comment other than his assurance that he's human. You're just so excited!  
  
Your canine ears twitch to and fro, picking up the whirring of plane engines and the crashing of the waves below you and the commotion you've caused on the now-baseball-sized planets and the smaller motors in the man's metal suit-  
  
Hold on. You haven't really read much or watched too many movies that aren't John's (or really any movies at all after John denounced Nicolas Cage) for a while, but as all three of you lower onto the little landing area in the jet's cargo hold, your mind is whirring and trying to remember why he seems so familiar to you. You've definitely never met him before, but-  
  
"Iron Man!" A blond man in a patriotic suit -so you're in the United States- calls out when you land. His blue cowl has been pushed back to reveal a head of blond hair, and if your brain had actually been functioning at the moment, you probably would have deemed him cute, considering your soft spot for blondes. However, your brain is currently preoccupied with completing the jigsaw puzzle that is this man's identity. Panels of comic books that you received when you were twelve all rush through your head like a slideshow; you remember reading all about this man, curled up next to Bec in your gardens on sunny Saturday afternoons. And sure, Sburb was beyond strange, but you certainly don't recall it bringing your favorite fictional inventors to life before!  
  
And so, despite the plethora of intelligent questions swirling around your thoughts, the best you can manage is an incredulous "You're Iron Man?"  
  
Iron Man releases you and John, whom the blond man steps forward to support, and raises an eyebrow. "So does every alien know who I am, or just the humanoid ones? I don't remember beaming my image out into space or anything, so I'm thinking there's just some giant billboard out there off the side of the intergalactic highway with my face plastered on it. It was probably Loki, that b-"  
  
"Tony," the other man interrupts before the curse slips out, casting a pointed look to you and John. You think back on your conversations with Karkat and giggle. Jeez, this guy is going to be in for a bit of a shock!  
  
"Oh, I can carry John," you say when you notice the man starting to shift John into a more comfortable position to hold. Without waiting for a reply, you close your eyes and picture John's room, sending him to his bed after a moment's concentration. He lets out a sigh and curls up in his sheets and you remove his glasses before he gets poked with them. When you open your eyes again, both men are staring at you. You smile. "You probably have some questions, huh?"  
  
Questions are definitely a thing that they have. Since landing on the jet, you have been introduced to Iron Man and the rest of his team (Superheroes! How cool is that?) and relocated to a really cool hovercraft that can turn invisible and everything! The bustling personnel inside glance up at you as you pass by with the Avengers, then glance up again as they notice the small solar system orbiting around you. You think you probably look a bit dumb with the amount of head-swiveling you're doing, but you've always loved science and inventing things; if this isn't heaven, you don't know what is.  
  
Now, though, you're sitting at a long, steel table across from the Director of this program, surrounded by clear blue skies through wall-to-wall windows. The Avengers are here, too; Black Widow and Hawkeye are standing as guards by the door, looking quite stern, while Captain America converses with an agent in a smart suit, and Iron Man and Doctor Banner seat themselves to Fury's left. Apparently there's another member of this team, but you have yet to meet him.  
  
The Director, a serious man with a black eyepatch, is the one who begins the questioning after a few terse introductions. "Let's start with the basics here, since everybody I've contacted seems to know jack squat. Who or what are you, and why did you come here?" The others quiet down and turn to you as well, so you decide that now would probably be the time to make a good impression. After all, you know these people will help you- they're the good guys!  
  
"My name's Jade Harley! I'm mostly human, I think. Like, ninety percent human, ten percent dog? That sounds about right. I'm also a fully realized Witch of Space, though, so I'm not sure if my definition of human is the same as yours, but I don't really think you guys are very normal either." Iron Man, now clad in more casual jeans and a tee shirt, nods his head as if to say 'fair point.' "And as for why we're here... I don't really know! We were on a straight course for the Alpha Universe, but for some reason this universe pulled us in. There wasn't really anything I could do to stop it, and it didn't seem too dangerous, so John and I just made sure we were prepared to carry out our emergency plans."  
  
It seems that your introduction has only added to their list of questions. Before Director Fury is able to continue, though, Captain America exclaims, "I thought you looked a bit like the Wicked Witch of the East! Your shoes and stockings, at least." A few of the other adults laugh a bit, but Captain ignores them. "But what do you mean by 'Witch of Space'?"  
  
You ponder that for a minute, wondering which definition they might understand without you having to explain everything just yet. "Our titles are supposed to challenge us. I was given 'Witch of Space' partly because of my firm entrenchment in science, and partly because I was raised alone on a small island; my world was really small. But since I've ascended, I have access to a number of space-related abilities such as the creation of wormholes, the manipulation of energy, and control over the amount of space something takes up."  
  
"Ascended?" Fury asks. You shift a bit in your leather chair and avert your eyes. You're not sure if you want to explain your ascension just yet. They probably wouldn't think of you the same (as almost human), and you've kind of enjoyed their company thus far. Because, when you think about it, a lot of the things you and your friends take in stride would sound really weird if you tried explaining them to non-players.  
  
Fortunately, Doctor Banner notices your discomfort and gracefully changes the subject. "If you don't know how you got here, we know a researcher who specializes in the field of astrophysics. We can contact her later if you think she could help. And I'm sure she'd love to study your wormhole ability."  
  
You look back up and grin thankfully. "That sounds wonderful, actually. We have somewhere we really need to be, and there are people waiting for us."  
  
"One of those people wouldn't happen to be a girl named Rose Lalonde, would they?" Your eyes widen as you turn to Iron Man, who is casually checking his phone as he waits for your response. How did he...? He puts his phone on the table and smiles at your shocked expression. "She contacted me earlier today. Her instructions are for you guys to wait with us until they arrive later this week."  
  
"They?" you whisper disbelievingly.  
  
"Rose, her twin brother, and four others. That's all she- Hey!" Superhero status be damned, there was no way he could have avoided this hug! You'd flown over the table and tackled him in your excitement and there is absolutely zero embarrassment to be found on your part because your friends are coming and this is the greatest thing you've heard in a long time! "Jeez, guys, calm down," Iron Man is saying. Still hovering over the table, you pull back and realize he isn't talking to you, but rather the agents whose hands have moved to their holsters. You realize your mistake a bit too late.  
  
"I'm sorry! I promise I would never hurt you, any of you, you're heroes, and I'm a firm believer in pacifism, anyway! It's just I am so so so happy because I haven't seen Dave since we were frog breeding on LOFAF and goodness, have I even met Rose before outside of dream bubbles? And I'll finally get to meet Karkat and the rest in person, too! But can we really wait here? Is it safe? Will you let us?"  
  
If there is one thing you learned from being raised by a dog, it is puppy eyes. Bec was a master of puppy eyes, despite his actual lack of eyes. You think that that just made him even better at it. As a result, you learned from the best, and when the Avengers start shuffling around and trying to look in different directions, you know it. You even make your ears droop a bit for maximum potency.  
  
Captain America is the first to melt. "Of course. There's way too much room in the Tower anyway- Oh, come on," he says to the others, some of whom are beginning to give him strange looks. "You can't actually keep two kids in the Quinjet's holding cells! Where else were you going to let them stay?"  
  
"If it's any help in deciding," you chirp, "we wouldn't really stay put in a place we don't like, anyway."  
  
Fury sighs at the lack of control they actually have over the situation before seeming to concede to their logic. "Fine. Stark, they're your responsibility. Now let's get back to the questioning."  
  
You settle back into your chair and start working out just how much you should explain. Kids with superpowers? Fine. Immortal teenage gods? That story can wait. As the onslaught of questions begins, you feel almost giddy. You're out of mortal danger, but back in action. Back on some alternate version of Earth, even! And when Rose and Dave arrive, there will finally be time to regroup and strategize and discuss everything that's happened, which is an opportunity you haven't had since your adventure started. Things are really looking up, you think!  
  
 **One week earlier**  
  
Translucent red wings fluttered as two figures touched down in a narrow alley. "Is this the right place?" the fairy-like girl asked. "It was hard pinning this timeline down after we split from the dream bubbles. You're right, though, it doesn't seem doomed at all!"  
  
The boy accompanying her smiled, revealing a sharp, symmetrical set of fangs. "You did great, AA. This place is definitely the source of the distress signals I've been picking up. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to have happened yet, though, so it's definitely not Lord English. Actually, I'm pretty sure that threat doesn't even exist here."  
  
Entirely used to it, the girl is completely unperturbed by his lisp. "For now, I we should just skip around in time a bit and gather some more information. Do you think the signal's going to pull in the others? Should we be looking for them?"  
  
The boy looked up to the unfamiliar sky in thought and adjusted his odd red and blue glasses. "KK and them will be fine, but I have a feeling they're not the only ones we need to be on the lookout for."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
The boy turned away from the sky to his companion and smiled again. "You probably didn't notice because you're god tier, but when we entered this universe, it seems to have given us a one-up. A bonus life. I can think of a number of people who are desperately in need of a bonus life."  
  
"You think they're all going to show up here?"  
  
"No doubt about it."  
  
The girl's cheeks dimpled as she smiled widely before taking the boy's hand. "Better start looking, then." A glowing red cog shape appeared under her red boots and his mismatched shoes just before a flash of red light enveloped them both. By the time a pedestrian walked by, there was no evidence that they'd ever visited.

 

 


	4. Steve: Save the Pancakes!

That night, Tony dreamt.  
  
Unlike the majority of his dreams, filled with gunshots and explosions and fire, his current setting seemed to be entirely tranquil. A faint sing-song humming drifted through the darkness, which was starting to grow a bit lighter. As inky black faded to a glowing white, the humming became clearer and reverberated off of invisible walls, creating an odd echo. The glowing, too, subsided, becoming a more neutral steel color, and Tony could make out two figures. The humming emanated from a small girl with dark, curly hair and a green trench coat as she patiently braided her companion's hair. The boy, a sturdy-looking kid in a black wifebeater and cracked sunglasses, didn't seem to mind at all. Instead, his entire focus was on the small heap of circuitry he was wiring. Thick fingers carefully screwed small nuts and bolts in place, practiced and precise.  
  
The girl stopped humming and looked over the boy's shoulder. A mischievous smile bloomed on her face as she gently grabbed two of her finished braids, waiting for just the right moment. The boy, unaware, continued to work, but just as he brought two wires together, she yanked back his head. He let out a noise of dismay when he looked back and watched his creation start a small electrical fire.  
  
Tony couldn't hear what he grumbled, or the girl's reply, but the next second the girl was laughing. The laugh, too, sounded unreal as it echoed around the entire space. Her friend let out a good-humored sigh and tried to hide his smile. Abruptly, the laughter stopped and the small girl straightened. A bit of the fogginess of the dream subsided. There was no more echo, and the details of the two children were thrown into sharp relief. Tony jumped when the girl swiveled to face him.  
  
Her skin was the color of faded charcoal and on top of her head were nestled two candy-corn-like horns. A sharp pair of fangs poked out of her lips. Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect, however, was her blank, milky eyes. While he studied her, she appraised him in return alongside the boy, who, standing up, was nearly twice her size and definitely taller than Tony. His horns were different than hers -the one that wasn't broken was arrow-shaped- but Tony had a feeling that behind his beaten sunglasses were eyes just as white.  
  
A long moment passed; in this dream, it could have been anything from seconds to hours. Finally, the girl spoke in a voice that was unnervingly human. "You don't belong here."  
  
"Yes I do," Tony replied after a second. "It's my dream."  
  
"Oh." The girl looked up to her friend, who only shrugged. "Is this your dreambubble?"  
  
There it was again, that unfamiliar term that Jade had kept using. "I don't know what that means."  
  
"It doesn't seem pawfully bubblish." Pawfully? Tony ignored it, assuming he heard wrong.  
  
"Do you know a girl named Jade Harley?" The girl's unreal eyes widened and she nearly started vibrating in excitement, opening her mouth to answer. However, her eager reply was lost as a long tunnel suddenly seemed to separate Tony from the two beings. A wave of vertigo crashed over him and made his head spin as images of cat-like monsters and horse hybrids swept past until, finally, he landed back in his bed.

* * *

 

  
Tony's eyes shot open and he took a deep breath. When his heart had stopped pounding, he asked JARVIS for the time. He was unimpressed to learn that it was 6:12 a.m. "Of course," he muttered.  
  
The previous day had been exhausting. Questioning Jade had been like dancing around in circles. She didn't come off as mysterious initially, but after a few hours it was clear that they were only learning what she wanted them to know. She told them what seemed like a lot at the time. Yes, John was her biological twin, but she was actually four months older; until three years ago, she lived alone on a Pacific island with her dog and her taxidermied grandpa ("family tradition"); she was capable of manipulating space, which was how she was able to accelerate their ship through numerous pocket dimensions; the orbs floating around her were actually inhabited planets; and she always carried at least five computers on her person because it's only practical. But those answers only led to more questions she parried away, and in the end she had avoided explaining the reason behind their arrival entirely.  
  
Really, her non-answers were more helpful than anything else their questioning produced. Talking about her pet dog saddened her. She couldn't answer any questions about her brother that pertained to his life before a certain age, and the same went for Rose and her twin. Remembering Rose's vague mentions of an omnipresent hunter, Tony had gone down that route after a bit, only to yield equally vague, if in a different way, results from Jade. Finally, when Jade's answers grew more and more clipped in response to her exhaustion, Fury ordered the Avengers, (minus Natasha and Clint, as they were needed for a short recon mission in a few hours- something to do with alien fairies) back to the tower with strict orders to keep a close eye on the girl.  
  
Sliding out of bed carefully so as not to wake up Pepper on her day off, Tony pulled on a shirt and grabbed his phone off the nightstand before leaving the room. Any memories of a dream had been blurred beyond recognition by the alertness now coursing through him. As he made his way to the kitchen, Tony used his phone to check the security cameras positioned in and around Jade's room. A mess of dark hair protruded from a gently breathing pile of sheets and blankets while the small planets turned in slow circles above the lamp on the room's desk, exuding a soft light in the pre-dawn blackness. Deeming his journey to get breakfast 'safe,' he clicked off his phone just in time to hear two voices drifting in from the kitchen.  
  
Tony shrugged and just kept walking. He was not about to let this sort of thing become daily.  
  
As he turned the corner, though, instead of being confronted again by a possibly inhuman being, he got the feeling he'd just missed them. The only thing there to greet him was a rush of fresh air from seemingly nowhere accompanied by a flap of wings. Okay, now he was curious.  
  
Pretending he hadn't noticed a detail out of place, Tony strode to the kitchenette and began brewing his coffee before placing a few pieces of bread in the toaster. Waiting for both to be done proved to be a bit unnerving; there was still an inexplicable presence in the room, even though several quick visual scans found nothing. The coffee maker stopped a second before the toast finished, so Tony turned to the wall of cabinets and grabbed one of his most-used mugs... only to turn back and find that the toast had vanished. Disconnected laughter accompanied another small gust of air.  
  
Tony swivelled around the room for the source before closing his eyes and sighing in exasperation. To his credit, he only jumped a bit when he opened them again to find himself face-to-face with an unnaturally orange visage. Deep orange eyes studied him wordlessly beneath orange-tinted aviators and a mop of carefully-styled hair. As the boy backed up a bit after his short inspection of Tony, the inventor numbly observed two feathered wings protruding from his back and a ghost-like whisp beginning at his waist.  
  
Before he could even think of something to say, a breeze ruffled his hair from behind and he turned around just in time to see the boy from yesterday, John, take a bite of toast with a mischievous smile and a distinct "sorry, not sorry" air. A small whirlwind enveloped him, and when Tony turned back to the orange boy, John was standing at his side, finishing off the first piece.  
  
"Hm," John said, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "That was not that bad for the first non-alchemized piece of toast I've had in almost three years. But... do you have anything else? Because I am really, really, really hungry right now."

* * *

  
  
Steve was extraordinarily thankful that he entered the kitchen when he did, because watching Tony trying to figure out the art of pancake-making was painful to watch. He recognized the black-haired boy intermittently helping Tony and poking fun at him as Jade's twin, but the floating, orange ghost-angel-boy who nodded to him in greeting threw him for a loop. Nevertheless, he did not hesitate in walking straight to the stove and saving the current malformed batch from what was about to be its fiery death. Jade's brother laughed at Tony's relieved sigh and he was pretty sure the angel was trying to send him a wordless "thank you" look through his orange-tinted sunglasses.  
  
Even as Steve prepared to make a stack of un-Tony'd pancakes, though, the thin black-haired boy took the mixture and poured out four perfect circles of batter onto the pan almost effortlessly, making it apparent that no, he had not required Tony's assistance, and yes, his previous refusal to help had stemmed entirely from his amusement at Iron Man trying to make pancakes. "G'morning!" he chirped to Steve when the bowl of batter was back on the counter.  
  
"What," Tony grumbled as he took his half-finished coffee to the bar stool with him, "Cap gets a polite 'good morning' and I get a command to feed you breakfast?"  
  
"Good morning," Steve replied. John smiled back before continuing his conversation with Tony.  
  
"One, you were already up, and two, when I suggested pancakes, you didn't have to take that to mean that you had to make them! Although that was pretty funny. Do you have bananas?"  
  
"Think so. Try the cabinet second to the right. And the syrup should be in the cabinet in the middle."  
  
John made a face at that. "Yuck, definitely no syrup. That'd be way too sweet."  
  
"Weird kid. And what else was I supposed to do when I pulled out a box of pancake mix for you to make and you refused to even touch it?"  
  
"It was Betty Crocker mix," John said exasperatedly, as if that explained everything. If the exaggerated eyeroll from the angel meant anything, it probably did, in John's mind. Speaking of-  
  
"You're name's John, right? John Harley?" Steve asked.  
  
"Egbert," John corrected. "My name is John Egbert. Jade and I are biologically siblings, but legally I think we'd be considered cousins. Ectobiological baby shenanigans and all that."  
  
"O... kay." Steve filed that bit away to ask about later. It was part of an ever-growing file cabinet, really; everything these kids said was bizarre. "And who's your friend?"  
  
"I can talk," the orange boy floating in the living room said tonelessly, surprising Steve and Tony as he hadn't spoken up before this. "I'm Dave. No, wait, Davesprite. Guess I'm gonna have to get used to Davesprite again, huh, considering the real Dave's coming soon." John's smile fell for a second as he winced, but he didn't rise to the bait in front of the two Avengers. Instead, he focused entirely on cutting up a banana for the pancakes placed next to him. Dave snorted and twitched a corner of his mouth into a frown when it was clear John wasn't going to reply.  
  
Steve caught Tony's eye across the room, and with a nod, they silently agreed it was time to try restarting their unsuccessful questioning from yesterday. They weren't sure if John would be any less obtuse than Jade had been, and they definitely weren't counting on Davesprite, but if they could just get a few more answers they might be able to piece a few things together.  
  
"So, John," Tony began once the teenager had taken a seat at the table in the livingroom. "When's the last time you took a break from that ship? Three years seems like a hell of a long time to be cooped up in something the color of mustard."  
  
"S'not like we could stop," John muttered. Louder, he continued, "But we still had the planets to explore and do side quests on and stuff. They're all kinda small, too, but at least they weren't yellow, you know? Sometimes the Yard just gave me a headache. I really don't want to have to get back onto it when we leave, but we might have to- I don't think Jade will be able to get as sufficient an amount of force behind the asteroid as she could the Yellow Yard, seeing as the Yard has its own engines in addition to the power she can supply it with, plus it's a lot smaller and more aerodynamic than any spherical asteroid could ever be. I'm talking too much, aren't I, I should stop, I'm sorry." John gave them a sheepish smile.  
  
Steve was already feeling a lot more hopeful about the results of their discrete interrogation. John seemed just as eager to be around people again as his sister, but lacked her carefully placed coyness as far as he could tell. He didn't doubt, though, that despite Davesprite's seemingly casual perching on the sofa a few feet away, the strange angel was listening in and ready to interrupt their conversation if he felt it was going too far. Steve noted that although he wasn't on the best of terms with John for some reason, Davesprite still retained a significant deal of loyalty to either one or both of the twins. But his... unusual form still bothered the soldier. Besides Jade's dog ears, the twins seemed relatively normal as far as appearances went. Maybe Davesprite was some sort of subspecies from whatever planet they'd come from? But then who was the "real" Dave? But with the angel wings and the misty tail, maybe...  
  
"Are you a ghost?" Steve asked suddenly, interrupting the beginnings of what seemed to be a discussion about Fruit Gushers between John and Tony. He'd seen weirder things, after all. Dave looked a bit taken aback; he hadn't been counting on joining this conversation.  
  
"In a way," he answered carefully. "Never died, though. I mean, I did, a lot of times, but this version of me didn't." Steve added concept of alternate selves to his mental file cabinet.  
  
"Why do you have a ghost tail, then? And wings?"  
  
"All sprites have these god damn tails. Pretty useless, if you ask me. S'probably just Sburb's screwed up sense of aesthetics. As for the wings, I'm just lucky I didn't end up with a beak and talons."  
  
"Dave," John cut in, "I thought we weren't going to explain that stuff until everybody else got here. Y'know, be all mysterious for a while, dodge questions like superspies-"  
  
"You're not spies, right?" Tony asked quickly but unconcernedly.  
  
"I wish! Be the previously unknown good guys when something bad happens and charge in all heroically-"  
  
Davesprite sighed. "You are just itching for that heroic death, aren't you."  
  
"Right. Okay. No charging in all heroically. But the other stuff still stands!"  
  
"See, I could've made some god-awful pun about me not technically standing right there, but I'm just going to save you all the wince and the shudder. I always thought it was really shitty of the game to purposely make things confusing anyway. I'm going to explain this, at least."  
  
John chewed on his cheek for a moment before nodding. "You probably would've been the one stuck explaining this anyway."  
  
"Right." Davesprite took a steadying breath and began. "So. I am how I am because of a game we all played. I'm definitely not going to be the one explaining that shit- you can wait for Rose or the trolls or whoever to get into game mechanics. Anyway, this game kinda ran like an action RPG with an especially confusing set of rules. Most things like that give you some sort of guide, or a tutorial on gameplay, or at least hints about how things are supposed to work, and that's essentially what Sprites are for. Basically, I'm the annoying fairy from Legend of Zelda. We were supposed to be vague about how we gave hints, but by the time I prototyped myself, I figured I didn't owe the damn game a thing. Screw the rules. If someone asks for an explanation of something under my jurisdiction, I'll tell 'em everything I know, simple as that. And the wings are from the stupid crow I was prototyped with, by the way. Had a whole room full of cool dead stuff and I had to end up with this stupid fucking bird..."  
  
Davesprite continued to mutter to himself about lousy crows and shitty swords while Steve tried to process this newfound information despite the various terms he found he couldn't grasp at all. Seeing as Tony was a great deal less frustrated, he figured the parts he didn't get were future things, not bizarre alien things. The scraping of John's chair across the ground as he stood and the soft clink of his empty plate on the kitchen counter resounded in the momentarily silent room.  
  
Tony finished analyzing Davesprite's monologue first. "How are you a ghost without having died?"  
  
Davesprite looked up again, his carefully instilled casualness back in place. "Doomed timeline," he said. "I was as good as dead anyway. I'm probably better off than the rest of the dead Daves out there, what with English on the loose in the dream bubbles." Every answer still led to two more questions, dammit.  
  
"Hey Dave," John said from his place next to the floor-to-ceiling windows.  
  
"All of you keep mentioning these timelines," Tony pressed further. "How do those work?"  
  
"Dave, there's something weird about this weather-"  
  
"Time's not my problem anymore," Davesprite answered. "Save that stuff for the other Dave."  
  
"It's brewing really fast-"  
  
"What about dreambubbles?"  
  
"And these winds definitely don't feel natural-"  
  
"You'd be better off asking Jade about those. Sleep's a scary thing and I prefer not to hold a microscope to it."  
  
"Dave, I think something's coming!" A sharp crack of lightning accompanied by a roll of thunder that made the building shake finally called the others' attention to John, who was pressed against the window trying to see something further up. Steve and Tony watched in shock as a hologram of a green square popped up from seemingly nowhere above John's head (hammerkind?) before an object fizzled into being in John's hands. The brilliantly colored hammer was nearly as big as its wielder and seemed to contain a set of dice at the head; all together, it had to weigh over a hundred pounds. Clearly experienced with it, John easily swung it up to rest on his shoulder before disappearing in a puff of wind, which, Tony realized belatedly, was the teenager turning himself into air. A crisp breeze swept through the room, signaling John's departure for what had to be the roof.  
  
As another bolt of lightning lit up the suddenly stormy sky, Steve recalled a memory from several months previous, during a similarly stormy day. A slight jeer on his part, followed by an exasperated look thrown to him aboard a jet- _I'm not overly fond of what follows._  
  
He and Tony seemed to realize this in the same moment, abruptly flying up the stairs with Davesprite trailing behind them questioningly but no less purposefully. By the time they reached the roof, they were prepared for the worst; Tony's armor was waiting for him, Steve had retrieved his shield, and Davesprite appeared to have acquired a sword somehow. While Davesprite flew straight to John's side on the middle of the roof, the two Avengers hung back, wary of any wayward bolts.  
  
The clouds directly above the tower began roiling and crackling with energy before a single streak of light hurtled to the ground, illuminating John and Davesprite where they stood unphased and poised for a battle that Steve really, really hoped to avoid.  
  
A thick red cape billowed audibly even as the winds died down and a broad-shouldered figure slowly rose out of his crouch. "Earth," he said authoritatively, "is under my domain. State your purpose here, otherworlders."  
  
Tony grumbled irritably. "God dammit, Fabio, you just pick the worst times to take a vacation."


	5. SHIELD: Investigate Shenanigans

Natasha Romanov sighed angrily as she pulled off her thick combat boots and replaced them with something comfier. The mission she and Clint were assigned last minute the night before had failed spectacularly. A simple recon mission due to odd reports from a base in Olympia deteriorated into a frustrating scavenger hunt almost as soon as they touched down. Intel given to them by the waiting agents had filled out the skeleton of their debriefing: hikers had been sighting strange, supposedly humanoid creatures along the trails and SHIELD intervened shortly thereafter, worried that somebody might be breeding mutants. Black Widow and Hawkeye were called in to investigate one of the main sources of the sightings, a thick forest of tall pines. Not even fifty paces in, they found a letter in pristine shape stuck to a tree with its own sap. Carefully pocketing it as evidence after analyzing it for threats, the two agents continued on parallel paths from each other, using their comms to keep in touch.  
  
Hawkeye found the second one; rustling in a nearby tree drew his eyes in the right direction. Each letter after that was found in much the same way; a twig snapping here, an electrical crackling there. After the eleventh or so letter, the agents finally decided to open them up for examination. The notes' contents were no less disturbing than the manner in which they were found. They were personal letters addressed to the two agents, as if their arrival had been expected. The familiarity varied between each one- while some were only addressed with "Dear Agent," others named Natasha and Clint by their hero personas, and still more were written out to their real names, all in various colors of pens, pencils, and in one instance, yellow marker.  
  
After one last foreboding letter (we hope to see you soon!), their searches of the forest turned up nothing- no illegal mutant breeding lab, no humanoids, and no more letters. Black Widow knew she wasn't the only one annoyed with the wild goose chase and its ultimately unfruitful results. Hawkeye had been glaring a hole in the wall as they'd given their mission report to Fury, along with the letters sealed in bags as evidence of two of SHIELD's top agents having not gone completely insane quite yet.  
  
Despite the two hundred percent increase in paranoia they induced, the letters themselves weren't malicious in the least. Some were almost like pen pal letters, full of gossip concerning unfamiliar names, while others contained nonsensical passwords to wireless forums that didn't exist alongside future dates. A few times, they had found the same letter in several places, just slightly modified. A quick scan served to prove that the multiples were the exact same letter. Something was messing with them thoroughly.  
  
After she had finished strapping her guns into place under her more casual outfit, Black Widow tied her hair up in a quick ponytail and exited the small, impersonal room that served as her bedroom in SHIELD headquarters to find Hawkeye waiting for her in the hallway. They were to head back to Stark Tower and stay there indefinitely on account of the alien children, which actually seemed more like a nice break from work as far as Natasha was concerned. The amount of mystery surrounding them would serve to put her on edge for a while, but Jade at least seemed nonviolent and it was far better than traipsing through Washington in search of an elusive pen pal.  
  
About five minutes from their destination, Clint interrupted her thought process with "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Look who decided to visit." Before Natasha could even scan the area outside the jet's window, a bolt of lightning had her rolling her eyes.  
  
"I swear to god these Asgardians have timers for these things."

* * *

  
  
So far, Tony was impressed. John hadn't so much as flinched at Thor's booming claim, instead standing slightly hunched so as to keep a good grasp on his impractical-looking hammer. He could already predict the kid's first move: he'd start off with an uppercut, not expecting to hit, but to build momentum, and then swing it around over his head and bring it down as hard as he could. Really, though, how much power would that really have? John seemed to have a bit of lean muscle, sure, but he definitely didn't have Thor's broad shoulders and built physique, and that hammer looked kind of heavy from where Tony stood.  
  
Davesprite, on the other hand, wasn't as predictable. He hovered tensely next to John looking for all the world like a rattlesnake prepared to strike at the next stimulus. Also unlike John, Tony could tell he'd been trained with his weapon. That sword looked incredibly natural on him- he knew how to use it expertly and wouldn't hesitate to should it come to that.  
  
"We aren't looking for a fight," John began diplomatically. "The fact that we're even here is an accident, I promise."  
Thor studied him for a moment, sizing him up. "From which of Yggdrasil's branches do you hail? You are closer to Asgardian than Midgardian, are you not? But I know of none as young as you."  
  
John and Davesprite shared a confused look before seeming to shrug it off, like they were used to these sorts of things. "Look, we have no idea what either of those mean, dude," John answered truthfully. "We're definitely from Earth though! Just not this Earth."  
  
Davesprite nodded. "Seeing as how this isn't a desert wasteland, I'd say this version of Earth is definitely an improvement."  
  
"So you're from a destroyed planet?" Steve asked from beside Tony, having relaxed his stance.  
  
"Well, yeah." John also relaxed a bit, turning to face Steve. "But that destroyed planet was Earth, and we haven't really been there in a while. We escaped right before it was destroyed."  
  
"Escaped," Davesprite snorted. "Like the alternative was much better."  
  
"I'm still really confused as to how this version of Earth even exists, actually," John continued. "No matter the timeline, the Earth being destroyed was always a constant, I thought."  
  
As the conversation continued, Thor looked more and more confused, like something just wasn't adding up for him. "I do not understand how you come from Earth," he stated after a minute, recalling John and Davesprite's attention, "when neither of you are mortal. You are a wind god, are you not? And is this not your spirit companion?"  
  
Tony and Steve shared a look; the more pieces of this puzzle supplied to them only had them reeling at how large the jigsaw was turning out to be. John, and presumably Jade, not being mortal made a weird sort of sense, but gods? These kids acted like any other person their age, excusing an out of place quirk here and there, but Tony had assumed they were mutants of some sort. Although that didn't really add up either, did it, with Jade's mentions of "ascension" and this game they supposedly played that kept popping up. Just what were they, exactly?  
  
John's surprised spluttering was cut short by the sound of a jet engine looming overhead. As it began to descend, John and Davesprite hurriedly backed up a bit while Thor crossed the roof in a few long strides to stand by his fellow Avengers, doing his best to keep a wary eye on the teenagers. Tony didn't blame him, actually; that was what he was supposed to be doing, too, but he'd been caught off-guard by how normal --personality-wise, at least-- their visitors seemed to be. Once the jet had landed (more or less- it still had its engine running, due to the SHIELD pilots having policy that required them returning to base unless informed otherwise), Hawkeye and Black Widow hopped out and the jet sped away in the direction it had come from.  
  
"Hey, Stark," Hawkeye called gruffly. "Why the hell did you let them onto the roof? I don't know about the blue pajamas kid, but that thing definitely has a pair of wings." Davesprite's feathers ruffled indignantly and he shot the archer a quick glare.  
  
"They probably didn't even think of flying away, the dumbasses." Steve, Tony, and Thor all did a double-take at Jade's sudden appearance beside them. Her glasses were still slightly skewed and her hair was knotted from sleep, but the look she was giving John and Davesprite was enough to have them look repentful for rushing into whatever it was they thought was happening. She huffed and started towards their spot on the roof. "What the fuck were you guys thinking? We're being helped by superheroes and you decide it'd be cool to go and fight one of them? For fuck's sake, put away that god damn hammer, John!" Steve visibly paled at Jade's language and Tony tried not to snicker.  
  
The brightly colored hammer was quickly filed back into the floating hologram that appeared over John's head, and Davesprite's sword seemed to disappear entirely. "We're sorry!" John yelped futiley as his sister leaned up to give him a quick smack on his head. "I saw the weather change really fast and I thought it might be Jack, so I went to the roof to see if I could catch him before he did anything, but it was that guy instead and I wasn't trying to start a fight or anything!" John elbowed Davesprite in the ribs when the orange boy half-heartedly covered his mumbled "heroic death" with a cough.  
  
Jade's anger seemed to fizzle out at that. She sighed. "Guys, Jack's made of the same stuff as me. He's part First Guardian and he's already killed you both at least once. With all the training we've done on the ship, I'm sure you could hold him off, but I don't think you could ever win with just the two of you. Please don't be so stupid!" Jade pulled John into a loose hug and had Davesprite joining them after a quick hand motion.  
  
Tony coughed awkwardly after a moment, turning to find that Steve still had a look of consternation as he tried to wrap his mind around Jade's sweet face and foul mouth. Thor, on the other hand, seemed to have changed his initial mindset completely and was looking on almost fondly. The moment was swiftly ended by the twins' laughter at Davesprite's half-hearted attempts to tug himself free.  
  
Natasha raised a brow at how familiar these visitors seemed to have gotten with the other Avengers so quickly. A quick glance to Barton confirmed that he'd noticed the same thing. Still, they could ask questions about Jade's brother and the orange angel boy later; for now, they needed to give a rundown of their unusual mission to the others. Perhaps Thor would have a better idea about what they might be up against.

* * *

  
  
Okay, so Tony probably shouldn't have been surprised at Thor's skill with alien teenagers considering he acted like one outside of missions. After Hawkeye and Black Widow had detailed the previous night's mission to them and Thor had confirmed that he had no knowledge of beings of that description, Tony and Steve had supplied any new information they'd learned about the kids. John's control over wind and Davesprite's brief description of a "game" they'd played, when added to Jade's non-answers from their previous joke of an interrogation and their insistence that they were human, only led to vague and outlandish theories from Clint and Tony. Once Thor had told them for the umpteenth time that yes, the twins were gods of some sort, and no, they definitely did not feel Aesir, they adjourned their informal meeting and returned to one of Tony's many living rooms where the kids were waiting.  
  
John and Jade had taken a shine to Thor right away. Jade eagerly explained to her brother and Davesprite that these were the heroes from the comic books she'd asked them to send her occasionally. Soon enough, Thor was telling outrageous stories from his childhood in Asgard which Jade replied to with tales of the adventures she'd go on with Bec and John with descriptions of his hilarious pranks and failed magic tricks from when he was younger.  
  
Besides the out of place mentions of teleporting dogs, birthday harlequins, irradiated steak, Betty Crocker, and technology far too advanced to be anywhere but the development lab of Stark Industries, the only big discrepancy Tony picked up on was the complete lack of stories involving friends. Sure, they might mention each other or Rose or Dave or somebody's guardian, but that was it. There were no mentions of school or sports teams or extended family, no nostalgic remembrances of past birthdays beyond a few letters and a cake, nothing at all besides their families and each other. Tony remembered what Jade had said about growing up on an island, but John, at least, had to have gone to school at some point if he'd been raised in suburban Washington as he claimed.

* * *

  
  
Over the next few days, the sickly paleness of their skin was quickly restored to a more natural olive due to gratuitous amounts of time spent by floor-to-ceiling windows and on the roof. Jade soon looked like a proper Pacific Islander (plus dog ears) while John apparently reminded Steve more of a smart Jewish boy he'd once gone to school with.  
  
For every normal teenager moment the Avengers witnessed, there was always another where something wasn't quite right. Jade, while insisting she wasn't an expert in robotics, would casually comment on one of Tony's projects with a bit of knowledge kids her age wouldn't usually have. John would share complex and nearly plausible theories on the biology of ghosts during a Ghostbusters movie, then forget part of his train of thought and explain that he'd thought it up when he was thirteen, so it had been a while. Davesprite, practicing with his katana in the training room, would be stuck coming up with a rhyme for his next rap lyric only to think up a startlingly long word off the top of his head that actually made sense in context.  
  
And, of course, nobody had forgotten what Thor had said- these kids were not mortal. They were unusually intelligent sixteen-year-olds with what could only be described as superpowers who had arrived on a gigantic golden ship along with five inhabited planets and an orange human-crow hybrid who spoke of fatal games and alternate timelines and dreambubbles, but they were definitely not mortal. But could they actually be gods? Nothing made total sense, and that was dangerous in a hero's line of work.  
  
Still, they did their best to humor their visitors; John's scholarly conversations with Bruce, Tony allowing Jade to observe him in his workshop and even helping a bit, and a series of friendly spars in the training room were soon repaid with tours of the siblings' lands via Jade's space powers. However, she insisted that the lands belonging to Rose and her brother were under their jurisdiction as far as allowing visitors went, and she and John both denied them access to the interiors of their wrecked houses, supposedly because of the mess. It was highly amusing to watch John talk with each of his consorts, a whole village of yellow salamanders that nobody could understand save John. From the way they stood in awe of him and offered up gifts, though, it was easy enough for Bruce and Tony to deduce that they seemed to worship the boy.  
  
Bruce was probably the most interested in the consorts of the lands. After asking permission, he gathered a few frozen frogs from Jade's land and a willing salamander from John's to run various non-harmful tests on back in the lab. Natasha followed mostly silently, taking the odd plants and weather in and interjecting with a question every now and again. Clint's eyes, however, were immediately drawn to the towering structures present in both lands, ascending past the ever-present clouds and fireflies in John's land and beyond the vaulted canopy of trees in Jade's. He soon had Thor, Tony, and Steve focusing on them as well. Unlike the consorts, even John was unwilling to be forthright with answers about those. Once their questions became too much Jade would draw them back out before John either gave in or attempted to lie (and still give it away).

* * *

  
  
On Saturday afternoon, the day before Jane Foster was due to arrive in New York, Tony woke up after a long night of running scans on the frogs' unusual cell structure with Bruce to find Jade standing by the giant window by the kitchenette. A brief twitch of one of her white ears was the only indication she'd noticed his entrance at all. He carefully walked to stand next to her and glanced out the window to find perfect blue skies; turning to Jade, he found her bright green eyes wide and focused on something he couldn't see.  
  
Never one to stand for extended periods of silence, Tony began, "So..." only to be interrupted before he could run his mouth.  
  
"They're here."

* * *

  
  
Your name is **Karkat Vantas** , and you have no fucking idea how you're supposed to land a fucking asteroid without killing everybody on it suddenly and violently.


	6. Karkat: Flip Out

You are now Karkat Vantas, no matter how much you wish you could be anyone else at this moment.  
  
See, leadership's a double-edged sword. On the one hand, of course you're the leader. If you let these ignoramuses you call friends run the show, you would have all died horrifically (and, knowing your luck, very much embarrassingly) sweeps ago. You'd like to think that that was an exaggeration, but you know better- actually, you know this for a fact due to the sheer number of alternate selves you've met via dream bubble who weren't quite as lucky. On the other hand, when the situation gets really tough, tough enough that no one can come up with a plan with a 100% chance of survival, they look to you like you might know something they don't. A lot of the time you probably do, but that knowledge only extends so far.  
  
Which is why, at the moment, you have the undivided attention of five pairs of eyes (six if that really was a faint honk you heard just now coming from the vent, but that might have just been lingering paranoia) which, of course, are attached to five (or six) people who are all seated in a conglomeration of rolling chairs in the grubtop respiteblock waiting for you to voice your opinion regarding Dave's newest idea for escaping this giant rock before you all die. You think he's given up at this point and is just shitting around; his latest plan involves some sort of paradoxical time travel and infinite bottles of apple juice.  
  
You sigh exasperatedly and run through your available options. Rose and Terezi, as Seers, won't do you much good when it comes to halting the descent of a falling asteroid. While Kanaya, as a Hero of Space, might have been a good prospect, she is a Sylph- a healer, not an astroinnihilator. In other words, that's a no. Dave, for all the "ideas" he contributes, isn't especially suited for the task, either. And, of course, not only are you not a fully realized Knight of Blood, you think that even if you were, whatever powers you attained could not help much.  
  
You spare a glance at the Mayor and find that he is spinning in his chair and eating a piece of purple chalk.  
  
Really, at this rate you might as well just throw Gamzee out a window, hope he goes psycho, beats the shit out of this asteroid, and then continue your freefall with significantly smaller rocks.  
  
"Strider, will you shut the fuck up already?" you snarl, sensing an oncoming migraine. Dave exhales what had been the breath for his next proposal and leans back in his chair. "I've been putting a lot of thought into this," you continue into the newfound silence, "and we are all fucked. And Strider's plans are shit."  
  
"Ouch," Dave says monotonously.  
  
Terezi giggles and kicks her feet up onto Dave's lap, somehow pinpointing the exact angle to roll her chair to. "I still stand behind the one involving alchemizing a scalemate to be one trillion times its original size."  
  
"Okay, no, that is still a terrible excuse for something even distantly resembling an idea that isn't fated by numerous flaming balls of gas to fail, let alone something halfway decent enough to even wipe my bulge with. Also, can we all just take this moment to remember the detail that no matter how many feckless excuses for attempts at eloquence you spew out of your windholes, we are still hurtling at what I should think would be a more than alarming velocity towards some kind of apparently inhabited planet?"  
  
"Although I admit a bit of time has passed since I last saw it," Rose interjects, unphased by -or just accustomed to, and isn't that depressing- your panicked ranting, "our destination appears remarkably similar to Earth, to the point where I am more than confident this is Earth."  
  
You sigh, but you are at least a bit thankful somebody other than you is giving this some thought and decide to ignore the hint of sarcasm you pick up on. "I know, but that in itself is wrong, because, I don't know if you noticed, but Earth was definitely turned into a desert wasteland last time I checked. This can't be Earth, at least not the one created from our session, because this one is blue and white and green and oh god I can already see major land formations we're all going to die oh god-"  
  
This time it is Kanaya who cuts through your distress. "I do believe Rose mentioned having spoken to one who she believes will assist us," she looks to her side, where Rose smiles and nods, "so perhaps it would be wisest to not overthink this? We have already done all that is possible in order to specify this particular planet as our destination rather than the others we have passed already in this worrying detour. Both our resident Seers have assured us that they do not sense any timeline deconstruction in the near future, and speaking on behalf of the aspect of Space, I can attest to the fact that this particular universe we have stumbled into seems subtly and inexplicably different than the universe we escaped and every pocket universe in between. If our desperation reaches critical levels, Rose and Dave are quite capable of flying when necessary and I am sure they will not object to doing so with several passengers."  
  
Not for the first time, Kanaya's calm demeanor is the one that you take solace in. Although she layers her message in words upon words, this is your friend's way of telling you to calm down. A futile effort, sure, but at least something resembling a plan seems to have been formulated and a bit of that crushing responsibility (it's your fault if more of them die) has been shifted off your spine for the time being.  
  
You bark out a few orders in what the others probably recognize as your attempt to feel at least a little in control of the situation, but they're either sympathetic or anxious enough to follow them regardless.

* * *

  
  
Let's leave Karkat be for a bit, shall we? The poor guy's on the verge of a breakdown as it is; he doesn't need the eyes of a hundred invisible people peering over his shoulder and into his mind, really. Of course, Rose probably could have filled him in on a few details such as the occupation of the people she'd drafted into helping, and the presence of a certain pair of Prospitian siblings. She does have a reputation as mysterious to keep up, though, which is awfully hard to do when you're stuck with the same small group of aliens on a rather quaint asteroid for several years. The attainment of new secrets is probably an immense relief for Ms. Lalonde.  
  
Anyway. Due to the rather large party that is slowly but surely assembling in the general vicinity of Avengers Tower, the narrative has become quite divided. In addition to the two godlings and four trolls on the meteor and the two godlings, six Avengers, and Pepper Potts in New York, we have two beings taking advantage of stable time loops to simultaneously confuse and assist their soon-to-be comrades (in addition to "getting the band back together;" although she has only a vague idea of what it really means, one of the beings has been quite enthusiastic about this adopted phrase's usage due to its fun alliteration, and her companion has adoringly taken to saying it as well); two already-forgotten dream people stuck in an odd in-between plane of existence; an invisible airship of government agents methodically drawing up paperwork and covertly installing spy cameras in order to deal with an alien party of unknown origin and unknown goals; a young astrophysicist driving to New York from New Mexico in response to a call from Tony Stark a few days ago; and quite a few as-of-yet introduced narrators such as a number of maybe-maybe-not dead teenagers and a very foreign prince.  
  
Perhaps we should examine our options before we rush into this. Currently, our very foreign prince is in no place to provide an adequate explanation for much of what is happening on Midgard- Earth, that is- other than the odd sensation of ripples in the fabric of Yggdrasil and a reasonably understandable explanation for what was previously referred to as a universal distress signal. Still, the former is something we could have inferred ourselves and the latter will be touched upon later, so we will leave him be for now.  
While the teenagers of unknown vivacity would be undoubtedly fun to follow around and would probably give a reasonable summary of events prior to this venture, most of them are unfortunately scattered and rather confused at the moment. Unprecedented universe-hopping can do that to a person.  
  
If you were interested in a clinical dissection of recent events and theories regarding the actions and behaviours of several characters we all already know reasonably well, we could take a shot at SHIELD's narrative. However, I am going to take a wild guess as to your desires and skip this one entirely for now. As for the astrophysicist, all she knows is that the Avengers have taken under their wing an alien capable of generating wormholes (which is very exciting for her, but there isn't much to say beside that).  
  
Another potential narrative path lies with the duo following a loop-de-loop timeline. In fact, due to their respective experiences, aspects, and intelligences, their combined narrative would no doubt be the most explanatory, helpful, enlightening telling of current events of the entire bunch. And that is the problem, you see- for all we know, they have already fulfilled whatever their mission is and are actually from the future, working to orchestrate past events in order to bring their planned stable time loops to fruition. You might find this spoiling of events enjoyable until the narrative switches again and any element of surprise is lost as you already know the outcomes of the more important conflicts. Patience is more rewarding.  
  
How about this: they can share a bit of their plans with one of the last options for a decent narrative, the dream duo. Truth be told, these two could be categorized with the "dead? not dead?" teenagers aside from the fact that they are a little further along than the rest. Last we saw them, they were rather confused by the strange person who had entered their unusually quiet not-dream bubble (one who had not been traversing dream bubbles for a seemingly unending amount of time might have recognized it as just a regular dream). This odd absence of dream bubbles, combined with a tidbit of spoken wisdom concerning "one-ups" earlier on, should give you a clue as to the current state of existence of the Alternians known as Nepeta Leijon and Equius Zahhak.  
  
Apologies for the rather abrupt termination of Mr. Vantas's narration. Do not fret, you will be returned to the overwhelmingly welcoming open embrace of his flavorful thought pattern sooner or later.

* * *

  
  
Your name is **Nepeta Leijon** and holy shit are you alive?  
  
Okay, okay, you definitely feel alive - this breeze is pawfully refreshing after lifetimes of dead air in the dream bubbles, even if the unusually mild sun is still a little too bright for your slitted eyes. You take a moment to just lie on your back and breathe deeply before panic sets in again and you sit up with a gasp, swivelling around quickly.  
  
You release the breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding as Equius groans and sits up a few feet from you. He finds his cracked glasses lying by his feet, and as he leans forward to pick them up as gently as possible you catch a glimpse of his eyes for the first time in a while. The thing is, his eyes are a deep, brilliant blue with irises and pupils and everything, which tells you several things: one, he isn't dead and neither are you (you don't know whether that's a good thing or not yet but for now this is absolute paradise in your mind) and two, despite freezing at six sweeps old when you died, you and he are somehow older now if his eyes are the color of his blood instead of the token charcoal of young trolls.  
  
Instantly deciding to sort that out later, you throw yourself onto your moirail and latch onto his neck, extracting a surprised sort of grunt from him and knocking him over onto his back all over again which you know means that he wasn't prepared for it at all. Before your sense of pride or any embarrassment can stop you, you're practically sobbing with joy and if your eyes weren't so blurry you could swear that Equius is crying a little, too.  
  
"Your- Your eyes are so- so blue!" you gasp out once you've digressed into slightly less manic hiccoughing laughs. There are a million things you want to say, but you think that he already knows most of them. God, you've missed this feeling.  
  
He smiles a bit crookedly, familiar even on the more angular set of his jaw. "I will excuse your rambunctious misconduct for now," he says in his impossibly deep voice, clear despite the blue tears you are now certain you see dripping off his chin, "on the condition that you excuse my uncomfortable inability to control my emotions currently." You just laugh again and hug him tighter as he carefully wraps his arms around you in return.  
  
After another couple of blissfully uninterrupted minutes, you both calm yourselves down and you wipe off his damp face with your coat sleeve before tending to your own. Equius's mouth is tugged into his familiar frown but you know him well enough to recognize that he is merely trying to save face, even if it's only for himself.  
  
You have seen Equius in the dream bubbles many times, and again as Fefetasprite, and again in that weird deserted dream space, but the thing is: when you die, everything becomes kind of muted. Sure, you're still you, but it's like a pastel version of the real thing. You might not have ever noticed it if you hadn't experienced the real deal again and now you realize just how much you've been missing. Seeing your moirail again, alive and whole, has unleashed a tidal wave of pale sentiment that makes you feel absolutely blissful with happiness.  
  
Equius has sat up again and is observing the area you've apparently landed in, taking in the washed-out blue sky, the surprisingly comfortably warm sunlight, and the tall, vividly green trees surrounding you. You crane your head to study the clouds which you haven't really seen that much of since leaving the Land of Little Cubes and Tea. It's all very tranquil, but you have a feeling it won't be for long. You try to make the most of it while you can by propping yourself up against your moirail and just listening to your combined breathing, lulling yourself into a very light cat nap. The gravelly dirt you're both resting on isn't the comfiest spot ever, but it's definitely not the worst, either.  
  
Suddenly, you go still as your ears begin to pick up on a rumbling noise in the distance. Equius notices and casts an alarmed glance at your surroundings before asking, "Nepeta, what-"  
  
"Shhh," you order, sitting up and widening your eyes. The sound is completely unfamiliar to you, but it reminds you an awful lot of a sort of mechanical growl as it rises in audacity. Preparing yourself for what could be a wild animal attack, you mentally scan your sylladex -empty except for your strife specibus, which is fine for now- and equip clawkind. Equius notes this and schools his body into a fighting stance.  
  
Right as the rumbling seems to be right around the corner, though, it stops. Everything stops, actually, and it's almost like you're back in a dream bubble except for the fact that there is a slight reddish tinge to the air. Then, in a brief cog-shaped flash of red light, two very familiar figures appear.  
  
Equius is the first to break the momentary silence. "Aradia...?"  
  
Sollux stiffens beside her but Aradia only gives the both of you a dimpled smile, pulling down her red Maid hood. "Hello, you two! It's nice to see you alive again! Would you care for a rundown of your newest predicament?"  
  
Equius nods beside you as Sollux finishes his terse explanation of the spontaneous "one-ups" this alternate universe has apparently granted you (it is so far removed from the web of universes you've previously experienced that some of the most critical worldbuilding data is altered, such as the existence of the game and possibly even Skaia and Alternia, that it can be likened to entering a different game entirely and starting out not quite fresh, but at least not dead- almost as if this universe needs you for some reason).  
  
There are not any dream bubbles in this universe either, Aradia has explained, just an odd sort of dreaming plane. She thinks it might be different for those native to this universe, but you are so foreign your own dreams don't know quite what to do with you. Aradia hopes she can reintroduce the dream bubbles to you and your friends, at least, once a few more essential people arrive.  
  
"Who's here already?" you ask eagerly, excited to see even more familiar faces.  
  
"Mmm, let's see," Aradia says to herself. You're really glad you're not a time player because you would never remember where you were or where you were supposed to be or what the temporally static people you're with already know. "Sollux, what's the date on the letter about pet ownership? We need to drop that one off at the forest soon, by the way." Sollux digs the letter out of his sylladex and holds it out for Aradia, who takes it and has it hover between them.  
  
"Looks like two of the humans are already here," Sollux remarks, "and KK's meteor is- shit, wait, we need to get over there, AA. There's no way they're gonna stop that thing before it takes out half the city and this becomes a doomed timeline. You've done a great job so far at avoiding those entirely, by the way, in the face of all these time-hopping errands we've been running." An unusually unguarded smile flits across Sollux's face and you have to bite your cheek to keep from squealing. You knew they'd be perfect for each other as matesprits!  
  
"Right!" Aradia straightens and returns Sollux's smile. She gives the letter back to Sollux and begins to hold her hands out before seeming to remember something else. "Oh, okay, right, as I'm sure you've noticed," she says, addressing Equius more than you, "I've temporarily paused time here, and as soon as I unpause it things are going to happen pretty fast because we ensured that you were deposited in exactly the right place. Just, um, I want you to know that this is necessary, I'm sorry, and brace yourself!"  
  
Equius is taken by the elbow by Aradia and guided to a spot right in front of you so that you are staring at the blue symbol on his shirt. Before either of you can ask a single question, Aradia takes Sollux by the hand and they disappear in another flash of red light. Suddenly, the wind is moving again, the colors are fixed, and the rumbling is right behind Equius.  
  
In a fraction of a second, Equius turns to look at whatever monster is approaching but throws his arms around you when you try to as well, forcing you down into a crouch along with him in his grip. You barely register any of this before Equius throws an arm out and sends a huge jolt of force through the both of you as he single-handedly stops the rumbling beast. Its shadow covers you both when it groans to a creaky stop, but Equius still has you firmly pressed against him and you are unable to wiggle out of his grip.  
You hear the sound of a door being slammed open.  
  
"Oh my god, oh my god, please don't be someone's pet dog- holy shit you have got to be kidding me! Darcy, you are not going to believe this...!"  
  
Equius is staying very still, trying to ascertain whether or not the source of the voice (and presumably, her companion) are a threat. They probably can't even see you with the way he's covering you. He's hiding you, you think, which is such a pale thing to do you just want to hug him forever, even if you think it is a little unnecessary.  
  
"Y'know, Jane, if there's some Guinness World Record you're aiming for here, you could just tell me instead of just gunning for any alien guy you see at the drop of a hat. Wowza, he is definitely not Asgardian, is he." In a lower voice, the second female continues, "Do you think we're gonna need the taser? He doesn't really look like the friendliest of guys."  
  
"Please shut up, Darcy," Jane replies distractedly. "He actually looks kinda... young? Hey, do you understand English?"  
  
You feel Equius nod. You can only imagine the intimidating glare he's giving them right now and almost feel sort of bad. They don't seem like they're here to kill you or anything. "I would ask that you refrain from stepping any closer until you state your intentions and your respective places on the hemospectrum." You jab his ribs. "Never mind. Just your intentions."  
  
A confused silence falls for a moment. "Uh, I don't know what a hemospectrum might be -I'm going to assume it's alien terminology- but we're not here to hurt you! I am so sorry I hit you with my trailer; we were in a rush to get somewhere and I was taking a shortcut, I'm sorry, if you'll let me help you out I'd be glad to! …Wait, you wouldn't happen to know about an alien who can manipulate, er, space, do you? And another one who can control wind?"  
  
"Oh my," Equius says, beginning to relax a bit. "Perhaps we are searching for the same beings, then. If I recall correctly, there were space and breath players in the human's session. I am Equius Zahhak, a Hero of Void."  
  
Equius has slackened his hold enough that you pop up around his shoulder before he can stop you. "And I'm the Hero of Heart, Nepeta Leijon!" Jane and Darcy, who look to be adult humans, you think, both jump in surprise at your sudden appearance. You take in the Equius-sized dent in their 'trailer' and decide to make a point of asking him about his back later.  
  
Darcy squeals even as Equius lets out a disgruntled breath. "Oh my god, she is so cute! She looks like she has little cat ears and everything and her eyes are so pretty! Jane, Jane, can we keep her? Please?"  
  
"Absolutely not," Equius cuts in.  
  
Darcy backtracks under your moirail's renewed glare, even from under his glasses. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it, I swear! Also, okay, no, a guy as muscley as you does not get to be this adorably protective. Is she your little sister?" You both adopt expressions of confusion at the unfamiliar word.  
  
"No," you reply diplomatically, "We're moirails! It means we put up with each other's shit and I calm him down when he gets angry and he protects me."  
  
Equius still looks uncomfortable and slightly suspicious of the new arrivals, but he merely says, "Language, Nepeta." You stick out your tongue at him and Darcy gushes even more.  
  
"If you two are alright with riding in the trailer with us," Jane interrupts kindly, "I could drive you to where we're going. And, y'know, maybe I'd get to ask a couple questions along the way...? It's going to be another hour or so from here. You guys aren't the first aliens I've run into with this thing, but at least it means we're better adjusted now." The sentence trails out with a nervous laugh.  
  
"I think that that idea is purrfect," you reply confidently. Equius doesn't argue despite his misgivings, and so you both stand up off the ground. Well, he's on the ground, still; you've taken the liberty of scrambling onto his back for a higher vantage point, being careful to duck when he does in order to climb into the trailer behind the humans.  
  
You are really, really looking furward to seeing your furiends again!

 

 


	7. Meteor: Arrive

Between quick expeditions and running small lab experiments with Bruce, Tony had managed to learn a bit about the group apparently arriving on a meteor. Davesprite was not one to sit down and discuss friendship (he'd slipped up and mentioned a brother once, but when pressed was reluctant to say anything more than "He was an alright guy"), but John and Jade didn't mind the small talk.  
  
Rose, Tony learned, did not carry herself nearly as seriously around her friends as she did everybody else; more than a few of John's remembered conversations with her had them all cracking up. Even at thirteen she'd had an impressive vocabulary and a fondness of Lovecraft and psychoanalyzation, and had a long-running passive aggressive battle with her mother going until they had entered the game. Apparently she'd been John's first kiss, but John had quickly assured him that the circumstances were absolutely dire and she hadn't been quite herself at the time. There was obviously more to it than that, but John had been unusually serious in telling Tony that it could wait.  
  
If Jade was to be believed, Dave was a huge dork. Even after this unflattering introduction, though, she referred to him as a coolkid as she laughed about his incredibly straightforward typing voice and his tendency to go off on completely unrelated spiels in the middle of trying to make a point. John agreed with her assessment and added that he'd been trained in sword fighting since he was little, was obsessed with apple juice, and probably slept in his sunglasses. According to the siblings, Davesprite was slightly different- more serious, more reserved, less trusting of others.  
  
Besides Rose and Dave, however, John and Jade were slightly unsure about who was arriving. "I don't know what happened, exactly," John had mentioned over lunch one day, "but Karkat was really freaked out and I know at least a couple people died. I was friends with one of them."  
  
When discussing their time playing the ever-mysterious Sburb, Karkat came up frequently. Despite Jade expressing mock-exasperation over him sometimes, she and John seemed to absolutely adore him. They managed to describe him as hilarious, a huge jerk, and a very good friend all at once.  
  
They hadn't known too many others that well. Among others, Jade recalled one person trying to gift her a "legendary rifle," another who tried to flirt with her and had apparently accidentally shot her grandpa several years prior (he'd apologized, she assured Tony), and a fellow space player who walked her through frog breeding. John, too, had chatted with a fair number of them, but conversations that are half pranks and half one-sided movie discussion that took place three years ago during a rather life-changing event tend to run together. Excluding his conversations with Karkat and his other three friends, it seemed that most of John's chats had been with a girl named Vriska.  
  
"There aren't any dreambubbles here," John said when asked about her (Tony could have sworn he'd heard that term before), "so it doesn't matter. I don't think I'll ever talk to her again and getting depressed over a girl that died years ago isn't a good use of anybody's time." At that point, Steve had shot John a significant look promising a more in-depth conversation later on. Tony, even after noticing this, didn't say anything; dealing with that kind of stuff was definitely not his area, thank god.

* * *

  
  
While SHIELD was closely monitoring the situation, their hands were pretty much tied until it was clear that their visitors had hostile intentions. Not everybody in the organization felt this way, from what Tony had gathered from a few customary system hacks, but thankfully Fury was keeping a tight hold on any desire to bring the kids in for testing. Still, this split in opinion meant that SHIELD would watch from a distance- they couldn't harm their visitors, especially as they seemed to fall under the category of refugees and the general public was already catching onto the fact that something was happening in New York, but the dissenters made sure that they couldn't help, either. They were effectively standing back and using the Avengers as guinea pigs; if the aliens turned hostile, they could step in with minimal damage to the organization, and if they really were peaceful, the Avengers were stuck with the task of sheltering them. Both ways, the Avengers shouldered the entirety of the press and were responsible for almost any damages to the city.  
  
Even after all the insights John and Jade had given them into at least a few of the people on this meteor, Tony was sure that he wasn't the only one who felt as if he was going in blind. A rushed debate with his teammates ended with the decision of allowing John and Jade to accompany them- they had been nothing but typically teenager-y and no one had forgotten the power they had displayed at their arrival. Still, though, not even they were one hundred percent sure about what (or whom) to expect, which was worrying.  
  
John rocketed through the air beside him, keeping time with Tony's suit by concentrating a hurricane's force of wind into his flight. Jade had declined a ride in Natasha's jet and had instead been teleporting herself to various points along the way to guide the rest of them; she would probably be the first one to reach the meteor's path. Tony had hoped that, like the golden ship, the meteor would be heading towards the ocean off the coast of Connecticut, but instead the path they'd been tracking seemed to be angled right at the city. Already, Tony could see the sky's coloring begin to shift as it neared the earth's atmosphere.  
  
Their mission consisted of three key tasks: one, don't let the new arrivals get burnt to a crisp via atmospheric pressure; two, don't let the meteor land and take out a sizable portion of New York; and three, register their new arrivals with SHIELD before taking them back to Avengers Tower and dealing with the inevitable media explosion.  
  
In short: easier said than done.  
  
A bolt of green electricity alerted him to Jade's arrival a few feet to his left. She immediately started trying to yell something to Tony, but he had to slow down slightly in order to catch it above the wind roaring around them.  
  
"-too fast!" Jade was saying, "I can't get a good enough hold on it to even slow it down!"  
  
"Can't John slow it down with his wind again?" Tony shouted back.  
  
"Not enough time!" Shit, shit, shit. There was only so much the Avengers could accomplish if the damn rock was going hundreds of miles an hour.  
  
Tony tapped into the group comm. "Bad news, everybody- Jade just told me that that meteor isn't slowing down anytime soon, even with her and John's intervention." Muffled cursing could be heard down the line.  
  
"Any suggestions, then?" Black Widow cut in.  
  
"If we can't slow it down, the risk for both the passengers and civilians is significantly higher." Bruce sounded more than a little nervous despite his matter-of-fact tone.  
  
Clint snorted. "No shit. So, what? Do we just go in on a possible suicide mission and just try to blast the rocks to the tiniest pieces we can before impact?"  
  
"A citywide call to head underground was issued a couple minutes ago," Captain replied. "As ridiculous as it sounds, Clint's idea might be the only option left. I'm just worried that the NYPD won't get everybody to safety before all the debris-"  
  
"It seems we have assistance, my friends," Thor interrupted bemusedly.  
  
The comm went quiet as everybody turned their attention to the two figures hovering a good distance above Central Park. By now, the sky was positively red and the meteor could be clearly seen- it was only minutes until impact. Even so, the figures did not move from their spot.  
  
"No way!" Jade cried excitedly before zapping herself to their side. Tony noticed that John, too, seemed to recognize them.  
  
"You know them?"  
  
John quieted the wind down a notch. "One of them's a time player! Oh, man, you're going to want to watch this!" A huge grin spread from ear to ear as he corkscrewed through the air to gain speed. Adding power to his thrusters, Tony followed the black-haired boy above the immense treetops, wind whipping past his suit. Thor had perched atop a tree a few hundred yards east of Tony, while the two SHIELD jets began circling the area, waiting.  
  
Jade stopped them a hundred or so feet away. "For now," she said, "we just have to let them do their jobs! Apparently psionics take a lot of concentration and we can't interrupt that."  
  
"Psionics? Like telekinesis and telepathy and all that nonsense?"  
  
"Pretty much! C'mon, John, let's get closer to where the meteor's trajectory is leading it so we can intercept-" The rest was cut off as she took John's hand and teleported away.  
  
Tony's attention was quickly brought back to the strangers (who had appeared out of nowhere- how were they even here already? Wasn't everybody on the death trap of a hurtling meteor?) as a deadly-looking form of red and blue electricity began to crackle around the taller figure. A male, Tony decided. And the other one, the one dressed all in red with -were those fairy wings?- had to be female with her soft curves and long, inky black hair. The temperature was rising steadily as the meteor drew closer. Tony hoped its passengers were smart enough to have retreated to the center of that thing, otherwise they'd already be long gone.  
  
Just as the Avengers were starting to voice their concerns over the comm, the weird electricity shot to the meteor, completely engulfing it.  
  
"He's slowing it down!" Bruce said excitedly.  
  
"This is an astounding display of magic," Thor added thoughtfully, "especially as it seems to originate from the man, rather than drawing on our surroundings." Even as he finished saying this, however, the waves of electricity began to falter slightly. A gentle touch to the man's shoulder by his companion stopped it entirely. (Was he a man, though? He looked awfully lanky.)  
  
Suddenly, a huge red cog lit up on the treetops, with the girl at its center. Its spinning slowed with each revolution until it stood entirely still- just like the meteor. Tony remembered John's mention of one being a time player. Was that what she was doing? Pausing the meteor's time?  
  
"What are they waiting for?" Steve wondered out loud after a few silent minutes. "They're just floating there, and so are John and Jade." His question was answered not a minute later as a boy flew out of one of the meteor's openings, a person under each arm and a billowing red cape behind him that didn't quite hide the broken sword tied to his waist. Soon to follow was a girl who could only be Rose in her golden dress and blue shoes, holding onto a taller girl in a red skirt with one hand and what looked like a small mummy in the other.  
  
Just as Tony thought that was all, one last figure jumped out wearing a strange purple outfit; instead of flying as the others had, however, he simply fell, managing to catch himself on a particularly tall tree in what had to have been the biggest display of dumb luck Tony had ever seen.  
  
Tony contented himself with watching as Jade materialized in front of the meteor, once again bringing her hand together into a square and shrinking the sizable rock in front of her. She floated away carefully as time started again and the now baseball-sized meteor resumed its rapid fall. John, with only a small gesture, sent a gust towards its underside. This slowed it down enough for him to summon his colorful hammer (Tony had yet to figure out that particular mystery) and knock it back up to his sister, who caught it neatly in her palm.  
  
"They're really something, huh," Bruce said in awe.  
  
"Hey, now that the hard part's over, let's check out our new alien buddies!" Tony didn't give anyone time to object before he was diving below the canopy of leaves and onto the trail he'd seen Jade and John descend to. He was closely followed by Thor and Cap, who must have turned over his jet to Bruce and autopilot. They landed just in time to watch John and Jade break apart from a tight embrace with Rose and the guy with the red cape, Jade literally jumping in joy and John doing somersaults in midair before he noticed them.  
  
"Guys!" he called them over. "Look, these are our friends! We've been friends since we were kids but since pesterchum doesn't work in pocket universes this is the first time we've talked in forever and holy shit I'm just so- so- I don't think I've been this happy in years!" John paused to discreetly wipe his palms against his eyes before continuing. "Anyway," he said, addressing Rose and the boy who could only be Dave with his fair hair and dark sunglasses, "I don't think either of you read comic books, but these people are Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor- they're superheroes! It's really cool. There's also Doctor Banner and Black Widow and Hawkeye, but I think they're up in the jets."  
  
"A pleasure to meet you," Rose said coolly, stepping forward and extending her hand first to Cap, then to Thor. "My name is Rose Lalonde. Mister Stark and I were acquainted earlier this week, I believe. It is nice seeing you in the flesh for the first time, Tony." Without the faint eerie lighting of their first meeting, Rose truly did look like nothing more than a petite teenage girl, but she definitely didn't feel any less inhuman.  
  
Neither did her brother. "Name's Dave Strider," he said, inclining his head almost unnoticeably. Unlike his sister, he was tall and wiry, with a self-aware stance that spoke of a lifetime of martial arts training. His hair, somehow styled impeccably despite jumping off a meteor a few minutes prior, surpassed Rose's pale blonde and was instead snowy white. The symbol in the center of his shirt was that of a cog, identical to the one that had spread out above Central Park.  
  
"I am Thor Odinson, prince of Asgard," Thor replied as he walked forward a bit from his place behind Tony. Dave didn't seem at all intimidated, keeping his hands tucked in his pockets and his chin turned slightly up. "If you do not mind my asking, where are your companions? I would swear upon the throne that I saw more of you."  
  
"Right, wait, that reminds me-" Twin flames roared to life on either side of Dave before dying out and leaving hovering cog-discs in their places. Dave spun them as if DJing and disappeared in a flash of red.  
  
Rustling leaves had everybody turning their attentions to the thick foliage on the side of the trail. Dave -the same Dave who had just disappeared in front of them- strolled out and nonchalantly resumed his place by Rose. None of the other three teenagers seemed at all surprised. Before any questions could be asked about what the hell they'd just seen, however, more people began emerging from the underbrush.  
  
"Figured I should hide 'em, you know, until we were sure you guys weren't the "kill on sight" kinda people. There're more of those than I'm comfortable with, frankly," Dave explained, a hint of a southern drawl slipping into his speech as it picked up speed.  
  
Tony could see why Dave might have been worried. While the four kids at least appeared to be human, their friends definitely weren't. The first to follow Dave out was a gray-skinned, sharp-horned, skinny girl wearing bright red glasses and holding an ornate dragon walking stick. A large smile in their direction displayed a full set of crocodile's teeth. Next was the tall girl who had been with Rose; she carried herself elegantly, sporting black lipstick and a stylishly short haircut, along with similar yellow and orange horns, though one of hers was bent at a sharp angle. The small mummy followed her, wearing a sash spelling "mayo" with a hasty red "r" scribbled at the end.  
  
No small amount of grumbling preceded the next alien, a tiny little guy swallowed by his large sweater and messy head of hair. Unlike the others, his horns were small and rounded, and his eyes had startling red irises. "We've been here five fucking minutes," he said through clenched teeth to no one in particular, "and we've already lost Gamzee. It was impossible tracking that guy down on the damn meteor! How the fuck are we supposed to keep track of that mentally inadequate chucklefuck now?"  
  
"Karkat!" John said excitedly, laughing as Jade made the alien splutter with a sudden hug. "You're so short!"  
  
"Shut the fuck up, John," Karkat shot back half-heartedly.  
  
The soft sound of wing beats accompanied by the feeling of static electricity alerted them to the landing of the two who had stopped the meteor. "Long time, no see, guys," said the boy (definitely still a boy like the rest of them with those awkwardly long limbs), lisping slightly over his S's. In addition to having an extra set of sharp horns, he wore oval-shaped 3D glasses that matched the electricity he'd emitted earlier.  
  
"Why, Sollux," said the girl with red glasses in mock-offense, "is that any way to greet a blind girl?" Tony wondered if she was actually blind; the girl hadn't stumbled over a single uneven rock and seemed to be looking everyone in the eye, even without them speaking.  
  
"Hehe, sorry, TZ."  
  
His companion, a girl with a dimpled smile, red-tinted gossamer wings, and ram's horns, was quick to land and start hugging each of the aliens. On her tunic was the same cog symbol as Dave's. "You all made it! I'm so glad! Okay, now that everybody's here -well, not everybody but somebody else will explain that to you in a bit, and we can always just find Gamzee later- I think it's time for some introductions! First off," she said, turning to the Avengers, "I am Aradia Megido, Maid of Time. This is Sollux Captor, Kanaya Maryam, Terezi Pyrope, Karkat Vantas, and the highly esteemed Mayor. The clown you might have seen run off is Gamzee Makara. They can introduce themselves fully once you get back to the Tower. For now, though, all you need to know is that we're members of a species called Trolls and are the last survivors of a destroyed planet named Alternia. The Mayor is a carapacian, a smaller species native to Derse and Prospit.  
  
"Now," she continued to the kids and other trolls, "for those of you who don't know, these men are members of a government-funded vigilante team dubbed the Avengers. Due to their wide range of unique abilities, they are this world's primary defense against the otherworldy. There are six of them in all: Tony Stark, or Iron Man, named for his self-developed robotic suit; Thor Odinsson, a member of an alien species called Asgardians; Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, a super-powered man with an invincible shield; Bruce Banner, or the Hulk, a man capable of morphing into a green giant when provoked; Clint Barton, the best archer in this world; and Natasha Romanoff, the sole female of the team and an incredibly deadly spy."  
  
Glancing at Steve and Thor, Tony was glad he wasn't the only one gawking. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he said, "but I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've met. How the hell did you get all that information? I mean, we don't exactly keep it private, but the fact that you know any of that implies that you've been here for a while and have actually spoken with a number of people. No offense, but we definitely would have been the first ones to hear about it if someone who looked like you guys just walked up to a civilian and asked about the Avengers."  
  
Aradia smiled again. "This is your first time meeting us, but this isn't our first time meeting you! According to the timeline Sollux and I have been sticking to, we've already been on Earth for a few months, which is plenty of time to get to know you. I believe you picked up our letters a while ago, actually, in the forest. The first time we met you, we were greeted by name, so I figured that this is what's supposed to happen. However," she added upon noting the Avengers' confused expressions, "any questions about non-linear timelines will have to be directed at Dave, I'm afraid, because Sollux and I still have a number of things to do before we join you at Avengers Tower."  
  
"Wait!" Captain said before Aradia and Sollux could disappear again. "Except for the boy that ran away, is this all of you?"  
  
"For the time being, yes," Aradia answered. A few of the kids' brows scrunched in confusion about where Steve was going with this.  
  
"But- aren't there any adults? You're all only teenagers, so you must've been little kids when you got on that meteor, and on the golden ship. Don't you have guardians of some sort?"  
  
"Not for a while now," Rose said quietly. The chatting that had been going on between the rest had stopped.  
  
"Adults of any species don't stand a chance in that game, they never did," Karkat continued tersely. "Our lusii -our caretakers- they died pre-game and became game constructs. After the sprites died, that was it. The human caretakers didn't even get that much; they entered the game along with the humans and were all killed by Jack, one way or another."  
  
"We didn't really see much of them in the game," John said, eyes refusing to meet anyone else's. "I'd been, uh, avoiding my dad that morning, and after we entered the game I didn't talk to him at all. When I was asleep I saw him once, with Rose's mom, but that was it until..."  
  
"Until we found them dead," Rose finished. Kanaya glanced at her before gently taking her hand, prompting a thankful smile from Rose.  
  
"Davesprite fought Jack with Dave's bro," Jade said. "They were defeated by Jack after he- after he powered up. Davesprite was stabbed through his stomach and temporarily lost a wing."  
  
"And when I found Bro he had a sword through his chest. The damn thing wouldn't break. Out of a whole apartment stuffed with shitty katanas, he chose the one sword I couldn't break." Tony didn't have to be a psychologist to recognize that Dave was hiding behind his sunglasses, but he chose to let it slide for now. He also didn't miss the brief discordance between Karkat, Terezi, and Jade; Karkat and Jade both looked as if they were about to say something before Terezi pressed against Dave's said and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Karkat looked a bit conflicted but mostly resigned, while Jade seemed to be slightly embarrassed.  
  
Oh, boy. Teenage drama. Right.  
  
"Let me get this straight," Steve said, a hint of steel in his voice, "A group of -what, thirteen-year-olds?- played some sort of game that killed your guardians and your friends and effectively turned you into soldiers, and then you were confined to two separate, relatively small modes of transportation for several years, and to what? Fight something even more dangerous? How did you even survive long enough to make it that far?"  
  
"Most of us didn't," Terezi said matter-of-factly. Steve nearly flinched.  
  
"As heartwarming as your concern for our collective wellbeing is," Sollux interrupted, "what we did was necessary. The game we played manages to find players who wouldn't be all that concerned that the world is ending. Most of us were set up for pretty miserable lives from the beginning, and that game gave us a once in a lifetime opportunity to change that. Those of us who aren't dead, and even some of those who are, are a lot happier than they ever were on Alternia or Earth. C'mon, AA, we need to scram. The rest of the Avengers'll be here soon and we still have business to take care of."  
  
"It's been a pleasure!" Aradia said, waving before taking Sollux's hand and disappearing with a glowing red cog.  
  
"Okay, no, they were definitely just looking for a way out of that conversation," Karkat accused, startling the others into laughter.  
  
"If there are no adults as we initially thought," Thor said after a moment, when the grim conversation was definitely over, "then who might your leader be?"  
  
A couple seconds of hesitation had Karkat stepping forward, squaring his shoulders to appear taller. A brief scuffle between the four human kids had John joining him. Tony probably shouldn't have been surprised, actually; with all four kids here, it was clear that John had a sort of natural charisma not unlike Steve, and the chipper-despite-all-odds attitude he'd displayed over the last few days would be something of a lifesaver during dark times. Karkat, on the other hand, looked to have fought hard to get the title, on edge and ready to argue with the first person to say a word against him.  
  
"Well," Karkat snapped, "come on, then! Don't just stand around like a bunch of fucking bulge lickers! Who's your leader? Don't we have to, I don't know, negotiate terms or something for what we're not supposed to be doing while we're staying here?"  
  
"Karkat," Terezi said, no longer wearing her unnerving grin, "Now that we're here, I've been going through possible outcomes. Sollux and Aradia said that they'd already been here for a while, and although I can't see any further than several human months ahead, I don't see any outcome with us leaving."

* * *

  
  
Six hours later found Tony and Steve chaperoning a softly lit limo full of sleeping alien and questionably human adolescents on their way to the Tower. They had all been ID'd by SHIELD and questioned both as a group and individually while the Avengers gave an extensive mission summary to Fury. From what Tony had gathered, the kids had been rightfully wary of the agents talking with them and had given away little besides the bare bones of the answers to direct questions. Holding your cards to your chest was undoubtedly a good move to make when dealing with spies of any kind, and Tony doubted the right questions had even been asked, anyway.  
  
The Avengers would, of course, fill Fury and Coulson in on any relevant information as it arose, but for now Tony liked to think that he was a good enough judge of character that allowing them a little privacy wouldn't hurt.  
  
A light rustling of clothing and a deep sigh alerted Tony and Steve to the fact that Rose had woken up and was staring placidly at them, eyes still a bit bleary but apparently in deep thought. She didn't move from her place, resting on Kanaya's shoulder with John's head in her lap.  
  
"I don't believe I've said thank you yet, have I," she murmured, careful not to wake up anybody else, "for giving us this opportunity. You could have turned us away, you know."  
  
"No, we couldn't have," Steve replied, equally as quiet. "You came to us for help."  
  
"We have become more than sufficient at taking care of ourselves. This might be the most fortuitous path, but it's not the only one."  
  
"Well, this is what you picked, so you're kind of stuck with us now whether you like it or not," Tony interjected.  
  
Rose's lips quirked upwards. "Surely you cannot be so kind-hearted as to agree to shelter more than a few alien teenagers for the unforeseeable future. I am fairly certain that at least a few in our party have some form of PTSD, and none of us were exactly 'normal' beforehand."  
  
"Speaking of beforehand," Tony said, "that guy with the funky glasses, Sollux, mentioned something about the game you played being more of an escape than anything."  
  
"And you want to know how such a seemingly dreadful event could be better than any alternative," Rose finished. Steve nodded alongside Tony. Rose closed her eyes and pursed her lips, composing herself, before continuing. "I do not know how well you've come to know John and Jade in the past few days, but surely you can tell that they're not exactly what might be considered "cool," for lack of a better term.  
  
"Just picture what I am describing here. John was a child with big glasses and buck teeth who was not afraid to speak his thoughts on matters. His pride and joy was his collection of C-list movies and he was unusually clever in areas such as puzzle-solving and riddles, but often chose to apply his abilities to matters other than school. I do not think I've ever heard him mention anyone besides his immediate family to us. Why do you think he was not terribly concerned with the apocalypse, knowing that his dad was safe and his friends were also playing?  
  
"Jade, on the other hand, never had a chance to interact with anyone at all, stranded alone on a small island in the middle of the Pacific. Her grandfather died when she was little and she taxidermied him according to some twisted family tradition. Even so, she still asked him for permission before doing anything dangerous. She'd even get into arguments with him sometimes. For much of her life, she was raised by a dog- an incredibly intelligent and near-omnipotent dog, sure, but he still had the instincts of a dog, not a person. She was narcoleptic and forgetful to the point it might have been considered short-term memory loss, but despite that was an incredibly capable marksman and mechanical engineer. This game promised an escape from the island she knew like the back of her hand, and a chance to meet the only other human beings in her life.  
  
"Are you seeing the trend?"  
  
Steve, bullied throughout his childhood, and Tony, more or less isolated throughout his, understood with unfortunate clarity what Rose was hinting at.  
  
Tony, after swallowing a bit of uncharacteristic apprehension, asked his next question. "What about you and your brother, then?"  
  
Rose took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Dave was an odd-looking child who was very particular about strange things, such as his insistence on wearing glasses and his habit of collecting dead animals. He grew up in his brother's shadow, refused to express much emotion at all to people who weren't close to him, and had an offbeat sense of humor and a tendency to ramble. I've never heard him mention any other friends, either.  
  
"And, as for myself, I grew up in the lap of luxury and hated it. To me, every gift was an act of passive-aggressive one-uppance and I found my niche early on in the tomes of H.P. Lovecraft. I was needlessly sarcastic and enjoyed picking people's brains for my personal studies in psychoanalysis. I never stood a chance in middle school." Rose exhaled deeply, and when she glanced up at Tony and Steve she seemed once again exhausted. "I suppose I don't have to tell you that this conversation is never to leave the car?"  
  
The two Avengers voiced their agreement before silence once again fell in the limousine and wasn't broken again until Happy rolled down the barrier between driver and passengers to announce their arrival at the Tower.

 

 


	8. Meowrails: Be Educated About S'mores

"At approximately four P.M. yesterday, a stadium-sized meteor was reported to have been seen falling towards Central Park before vanishing abruptly. Eyewitnesses state that the Avengers were fast on the scene, accompanied by several unknown beings capable of flight. In addition, one witness has attested to the fact that a small number of people fell out of the meteor before its disappearance, but that has yet to be confirmed. Back to you, Roger."  
  
"Thank you, Barbara. The involvement of the Avengers in this incident seems to confirm that there is extraterrestrial activity at work here. With the New York Invasion less than a year ago, the public is understandably paranoid about any unknown beings the Avengers are holding captive. This, in addition to the extremely unnatural weather several days ago, have set the citizens of New York on edge. Flocks of journalists and thrill-seekers alike are camped outside Avengers Tower, searching for answers. These answers, of course, will be given at a press conference with the Avengers slated for later today. We will be broadcasting this event live in just a couple hours, so stay tuned. Here's Stan with the weather."  
  
"The unusual hurricane conditions from several days ago have quieted considerably..."

* * *

  
  
Tony Stark loosened his tie slightly as he glanced at the two boys beside him. Their friends had almost unanimously agreed that John and Karkat would be the best choices to represent them in today's press conference. Tony had to agree; John gave off a very friendly and unintimidating air when he wasn't acting as the source of a tornado, and despite Karkat's sour disposition he was strangely eloquent. He was also probably the most 'human' of the trolls. Somehow, Tony didn't think that someone who conducted themselves like Terezi would go over very well in a conference. As it was, the two extraterrestrials appeared perfectly harmless, if a bit odd, in their respective sky-blue windsock hoodie and oversized black sweater.  
  
On his other side stood Steve and Bruce. As much as the press was clamoring for statements from all six Avengers, leaving Pepper alone to care for a group of relatively young aliens probably wasn't a good idea. Tony and Bruce would be answering any science-related questions, while Steve would most likely deal with the moral side of the recent events and the future implications. John and Karkat's talk time would ideally be kept to a minimum, seeing as how nearly anything they might say could be turned against them by just one spiteful reporter looking for a good cover story. Tony recognized that this probably wouldn't be the case, however; reporters always love something new and shiny, and he'd just have to trust his PR agents to handle things.  
  
A Stark Industries employee gave them the thumbs up before opening the door to a room of flashing cameras. John and Karkat both stiffened at the large gathering of people, looking equal parts surprised and nervous. Tony guided them to their place between him and Steve at the long table set up on a platform in front of the crowd. Once they had all been seated, Tony waved his hand a bit as if to say, Well, come on, I thought you guys were here to ask questions. He figured that someone had already introduced them.  
  
Immediately, a wave of questions erupted from the reporters. "Mr. Stark!" one woman shouted. "What happened at Central Park yesterday, and what does it have to do with those boys?" The clamor died down a bit as the others waited to hear the explanation behind the past week's odd happenings; if Tony Stark was on time for a press conference, then something big had to have gone down.  
  
"Getting right to the good stuff, are we?" he said into his mic. A few people chuckled. "Good. Dancing around the obvious stuff never got me anywhere." Tony took a moment to decide just how much he should gloss over; for example, referring to John as a 'god' might make for a sticky situation. "John and Karkat here," he said, gesturing to each of them, "are the leaders of a group of two different unclassified species currently seeking refuge on Earth."  
  
"The weather last week and the meteor yesterday were signs of their arrival," Steve added. "In addition, there are only eleven of them, none of whom are much older than John or Karkat."  
  
"Will these aliens soon be living alongside humans, like the mutants?" a man yelled from further back in the room.  
  
"We're incapable of reproduction, if that's what you're asking," Karkat replied seriously, tilting his microphone downwards to speak into it. "The only means to revive our species was destroyed several years ago." The room's chatter lulled again, as everybody apparently realized the aliens were capable of answering questions themselves. A second later a slew of questions directed at John and Karkat alike burst from the crowd.  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"Are all of you male?"  
  
"What are those things on Karkat's head?"  
  
"What's your species called?"  
  
"If John isn't human, what is he?"  
  
"What do your symbols mean?"  
  
Bruce chuckled into his mic a bit nervously. "Maybe we should just let them introduce themselves?" he suggested, nodding his consent at the boys.  
  
John gave the crowd a toothy smile. "Hi!" he said brightly. "My name's John Egbert and I'm sixteen years old. Um, I understand the confusion about why I wasn't introduced as human- I think I'm still classified as homo sapiens, biologically speaking- but nowadays my friends and I are probably closer to Thor's species. What'd he call them? Asgardians? Anyway, the symbol on my shirt is representative of my title of Heir of Breath. Heir with an 'H,' I mean, haha. It basically means I have a natural affinity for breath- or air, I suppose."  
  
"Do all of you have titles like that?" someone interrupted.  
  
John glanced up at the ceiling in thought for a second before answering. "Yes and no," he said. "All of us have assigned titles, but not everyone has achieved them yet. I'm... not even sure that'd be possible here, to be honest."  
  
Predictably, the press conference attendees had a million more questions for John regarding just about everything he'd said, but they were cut off by Karkat.  
  
"Listen up," he began gruffly but authoritatively, silencing most of the crowd, "because I'm not repeating anything just because you're all exercising your right to run your vocal orifices on with obnoxiously pointless inquisitions." Karkat paused to shoot John a quick glare for his silent laughter. "I'll just run you ignoramuses through the basics like John did, I guess. I'm Karkat Vantas, one of the last living specimens of a species called Trolls from the planet Alternia. I... haven't really thought about my age in a while, to be honest. Let's see... if John's sixteen human years old, that makes me a bit over seven sweeps. Which probably doesn't mean anything to you, fuck. Uh, the things on top of my head are horns, and the symbol on my chest is the sign of my ancestors. Every troll has different horns and symbols unless they're directly related, which is rare. And I have no idea who asked that dumb fucking question 'are all of you male' but holy fucking shit no, we're definitely not."  
  
A few uneasy chuckles could be heard from some of the braver reporters, but Tony could already see the journalists from some of his least favorite news sources frowning at Karkat's forward attitude. They'd already been out to spread unnecessary alarm among the public about the aliens, and he was sure they'd twist Karkat's irritated but otherwise harmless words into something malevolent.  
  
Before Tony could change the topic, however, one of them spoke up. "Is all your species as volatile as you?" a woman shouted accusingly. "Would you consider yourselves dangerous to humanity?" The noise in the room was brought to a complete standstill this time, attendees marveling at her audacity and yearning to hear Karkat's answer.  
  
Karkat, however, merely stared the woman down unflinchingly. He appeared to appraise her for a long minute before finally replying, "Are you?" In response to the puzzled silence he received, Karkat sighed exasperatedly and elaborated. "Wouldn't you consider your own species dangerous? I may not know much about Earth in its entirety, but I'm pretty sure a species that hasn't explored beyond their own moon doesn't assemble armies to just to fight alien species. That's why you have the Avengers, isn't it? They're your only defense against the apparently vast unknown. You can't have only, what, six fighters, can you? In this kind of overpopulated environment? Don't kid yourself. So then what do the rest of your warriors fight against? From what I've heard, you guys seem to be the only intelligent species inhabiting this planet. At least trolls are honest about violence; and believe me, trolls really don't have an overabundance of redeeming qualities.  
  
"So should your first priority really concern us, a group of beings considered pretty fucking young even by Earth standards, who couldn't recreate our species even if we wanted to? Really?"  
  
Tony sighed and rubbed his temples as Steve attempted to reign in the flurry of questions prompted by Karkat's speech. In hindsight, maybe agreeing so easily to take care of an assortment of extraterrestrial teenagers was a bit of a mistake on his part.  
  
Bruce quietly escorted the teens out of the room, leaving Tony and Steve to what was probably going to be a press conference lasting until the late afternoon.

* * *

  
  
An awkward silence reigned over the van of one Jane Foster as it traversed the East Coast on its journey to New York. While she had originally promised her passengers a journey of about an hour, traffic had inexplicably come to a standstill all around New York. She cursed the van's broken radio; she couldn't even find out if there were any unclogged highways, and their wandering in search of a clear road had only served to waste time without getting them any closer to Stark Tower.  
  
To make matters worse, any small talk she and Darcy had attempted had quickly fallen flat in the faces of their two unexpected passengers. The small one, Nepeta, fell in and out of light naps while her (moirail? moirail.) remained stonily silent except to give short, to-the-point replies to direct questions. Darcy eventually shrugged and gave up, plugging in her earphones and turning up her ipod. Jane tried to just focus on the streets in front of her, but polite guilt and more than a little curiosity gnawed at her until she finally pulled over into an RV campsite at sunset and announced that they should rest a bit and continue in the morning; maybe now she might be able to focus her attentions on her passengers a bit more. The scientist in her begged for answers.  
  
"This is fun!" Nepeta exclaimed as Jane unpiled sleeping bags from her supply in the trunk (after Thor, Jane decided that it might be in her best interests to prepare for anything). "It will be like a sleepurrver, but at night!"  
  
Darcy raised a brow. "Aren't sleepovers usually at night?"  
  
"We are nocturnal," Equius intervened smoothly, correctly pinpointing the source of misunderstanding. "Alternia's sun is much too harsh to canter about in during the day."  
  
"Earth's sun feels a lot nicer," Nepeta added. "I just want to lie in it and soak it all up!"  
  
"Do you think this sun looks more distant than yours?" Jane asked, curious. The fact that she was comparing notes with two complete and utter alien beings and was at an angle to learn more about a universe so foreign to her own was not lost on her. She hadn't been this excited since Thor, but her scientific curiosity then had been preempted by... curiosity of a different sort. Jane quickly refocused her mind. "If your- Alternia's- sun is closer to your planet, then its UV rays would be significantly more potent." Maybe that was the reason their skin seemed so much tougher?  
  
"As interesting as this is," Darcy said, "I kinda think we've been neglecting the elephant in the van here. How the hell did you guys even get here?"  
  
"I... don't really know?" Nepeta answered, staring contemplatively at empty space. "To be purrfectly honest, I've been focusing more on the alive part than the purroader explanation behind our arrival."  
  
Jane and Darcy paused in unloading the van and shared equally distraught looks. "Um," Jane began, "Were… you not alive before?"  
  
"Not. Not for awhile, no," Nepeta said, moving slightly closer to Equius and rubbing her wrist absently. Equius, in turn, put his arm around Nepeta and raised a hand to his neck.  
  
"Oh," Jane said dumbly.  
  
A distressing silence fell upon the group, only broken by Darcy springing up and explaining that she had some leftover s'mores ingredients in her backpack and she highly doubted that the two aliens had ever tasted anything quite as heavenly as s'mores. Soon enough, they'd started a small fire in one of the park's fire holders and were attempting to teach Nepeta and Equius how to make a perfect s'more. Nepeta seemed a bit more interested in the marshmallows, popping them in her mouth as she roasted two more above the flames. Equius, on the other hand, was downright enthralled with the idea of milk chocolate for some reason and ended up putting way too much between graham crackers before forgoing the graham crackers altogether.  
  
Despite the circumstances, it was kind of a pleasant night. Darcy's music played softly from an outdated mp3 player, a warm breeze floated through their area, and Jane was quickly becoming endeared to the aliens' playful bickering; it really was as if they were siblings. Morning came quickly enough after a few hours' sleep outside under blankets, and once Equius agreed to help re-pack the van they were able to clear out of the RV park relatively early. And really, what had Jane's life become that this kind of thing wasn't alarming to her in the least? She realized that it was probably for the best that nobody had strayed too close to them and noticed that their passengers weren't quite human, especially after the alien invasion last summer.  
  
"Jane, watch out!" Darcy yelled suddenly, pulling her out of her train of thought. Jane swerved abruptly to avoid the figures in the road, almost nailing a tree in the process, before putting the van in park and jumping out.  
  
"You've gotta be kidding me," she laughed, only slightly hysterically. Darcy came around the passenger side to join her, followed by Equius and Nepeta, just in time to see one of the figures pick himself up and brush himself off haughtily before lending a hand to the girl beside him.  
  
"Feferi!" Nepeta exclaimed, beelining to the girl and enveloping her in an enthusiastic hug. Feferi, in return, let out an excited squeal and picked her up off the ground.  
  
"What the fuck, Sol," her companion yelled angrily up at the sky, violet cape billowing behind him. His voice wavered on the 'W,' Jane noted distantly. "Are you trying to kill us again?!"  
  
"Well," he continued after a long moment with no response, turning to peer down his nose at Jane and Darcy, "Aren't you supposed to be taking us somewhere?"

* * *

  
  
Elsewhere, Natasha Romanoff dreamt of spiderwebs and bull horns.

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that ends the chapters written by the original author! It might take a bit for the next chapter to be out, and hopefully, it will be just as awesome as these eight. Enjoy, and I hope you all have an awesome day (slash night)!


	9. Natasha: Contemplate Trolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha learns that some trolls can go on talking forever, and that others can make rather decent, if strange, conversation. The main thing: they're all pretty awkward when it comes to silence. So far.

Natasha Romanov was officially very confused.

 

Last she remembered, she had been sleeping peacefully in the tower, anticipating -almost subconsciously- a long day tomorrow. Currently, she was standing on a long wooden bridge spanning over a strange river. And in front of her was two trolls with strangely pure white eyes, enthusiastically talking to her about the “fascinating” topic of universal destruction. Well, one was enthusiastic, and the other looked like he wanted to be anywhere but next to the other, but that’s besides the point.

 

“...and so he’s going around and following the bait like a complete loser and destroying the dream bubbles, or at least he was, before this weird and really boring plain happened. I mean, really--”

 

“Uh, Vriska?”

 

“--what’s the deal with this place, anyways! It’s so--”

 

“Vriska…?”

 

“--boring! There’s nothing to do here, and it’s like Lord English never existed in the first place. Which is such--”

 

“Vriska.”

 

“--a waste! I had so many plans, with way too many irons in the fire, and then this had to happen and ruin my web! Really! Whats a spi--”

 

“V-Vriska!”

 

“--der supposed to… What do you want, Tavros? Haven’t we already talked about you interrupting me during important conversations!?!?!?!?”

 

“W-well, uh…”

 

“Spit it out! I don’t have all day, y’know,” she snapped. The bull horned troll simply gestured toward Natasha, who was just… Staring at the sky. Both trolls stood there silently, awkwardly, as Natasha seemed to not notice the lull in the one sided conversation.

 

“Uh…” Tavros said, hesitantly waving a hand in front of her face, successfully snapping her out of her daze. Seeing their awkward gazes, she just gave them a blank look, and was about to ask if the one constantly going on about spiders and plans was done talking when she felt as though something was pulling her away, and she woke up.

 

\--

 

It was at 4:13 in the morning that Karkat shuffled into the kitchen after several unsuccessful attempts at sleeping, just to stop at the sight of the Black Widow sitting alone nursing what seemed to be a cup of coffee. Hesitating for only a moment, he fully entered the kitchen and got himself a glass of water before sitting on the stool across from her. It was only after both finished their respective drinks and simply sat in silence that one of them spoke.

 

“So, uh… couldn’t sleep?” Karkat asked, feeling rather awkward and weary at the same time. He was grateful for their help, sure, but it didn’t keep him from not completely trusting them. Natasha simply shrugged in response, watching the teenage troll across from her sit there awkwardly, when she suddenly noticed two strange puncture wounds on his neck.

 

 “What’re those?” she asked, gesturing to the small scars. Karkat blinked in confusion at the question.

 

“What are wha- oh. _Oh_. Um…” he trailed off, hesitant and slightly embarrassed. “They’re, ah… How to put this… Oh gog this is actually kinda hard, um… Kanaya…” he trailed off, “the one with the red skirt,” he said, nodding to himself at the explanation, “she’s a, ah... Rainbow Drinker.”

 

“A what?”

 

“Y’know, someone who drinks blood for subsistence? Or, maybe you don’t… Which is weird, considering both Lalonde and Strider know. What’d they call it? A Veper or something? Gog, humans come up with the most shit-tastic and completely fucking ridiculous names, I swear. Next you know, there’s gonna be something called “No Discount Shop” or some shit.” Natasha blinked in response to his mini rant, wondering how her question went from puncture wound scars to stupid names.

 

“Well,” she said after a moment, “I’m pretty sure that the word was Vampire, if what you said in your first sentence was true. As for stupid names, there actually is a “No Discount Shop”, although I don’t remember where.” Karkat looked thrown off.

 

“That’s fucking ridiculous.”

 

“It’s better than “Donkey Balls Chocolate Factory”.”

 

“...I don’t understand, but i’ll take your word on it.”

 

They spent the rest of the early morning talking about ridiculous names from their respective planets and universes.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's a rather short chapter as I gather my thoughts and ideas! I realized that Natasha will probably be rather awkward and stuff around the trolls, so I decided, why not start on bonding time? By the way, "No Discount Shop" and "Donkey Balls Chocolate Factory" are actual stores/companies. It's really weird. Enjoy, and i'll do my best to make the next chapter longer and more interesting!


	10. Tavros, speak parseltounge. Wait no, that snake is speaking English. Nevermind.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tavros meets a giant snake, Vriska fights bashing her head into a tree, Aradia and Sollux laugh at Vriska's suffering while apologizing to Tavros for having to deal with her, people may or may not be hinted at being eaten, and someone who was supposed to be dead but isn't (really, when is that new) comes back with dramatic reasoning.
> 
> Otherwise known as: I'm back and ready to fall down the stairs of life!

Aradia: Drop two formerly dead trolls out of the Dead Troll Party, because they don’t belong there anymore.

 

Appearing over a remote island in the Pacific, Aradia grinned and Sollux did a peace sign at the confused and rather shocked faces of Tavros and Vriska.

 

 “Hey!” Aradia said brightly as Tavros shyly waved and Vriska looked like she wanted to smash her head against a tree.

 

 “Ignore the feeling of slight deja-vu…” they all heard Vriska muttering under her breath. Ignoring Vriska in general, Aradia and Sollux turned to Tavros.

“Sorry about this,” Aradia says to Tavros as Sollux lifts him with his Psionic power and lets him go into the ocean. “See you later!” With that, Aradia and Sollux had vanished, and Tavros was sinking into the ocean while Vriska looked ready to scream. Instead, she stomped over to where Tavros was dumped and peered into the churning waters.

 “If you don’t get back up here, Toreadumb-ass, I will fucking scream…”

 

Your name is Tavros Nitram and wow what just happened?

 

Oh yeah, you were dropped into the ocean by Sollux and Aradia. So why does your head hurt so much? Groaning, you sit up and look around the cavern you happen to be in. And wow, how did you get here? Because really, you're not even remotely near the shore of the obviously underwater cavern, and there certainly isn’t anything around you that could have dragged you to where are currently are… At least, you don’t think there is. Did you crawl here in some sort of half conscious daze? How long have you been down here? Why hasn’t Vriska come down for you yet? And why is there suddenly a giant dark green slither-beast in front of you-- wait, what? You blink several times and yes, that is indeed a giant dark green slither-beast, snake, whatever, in front of you. It towers over you, it’s head hovering above as it just barely avoids hitting the cavern roof with it’s body and wow even that is a feat because the cavern ceiling is at least 50 feet above you and you get the feeling that what you see of it is only the tip of the iceberg because it’s body is still clearly in the water and what? Did it just talk?

“E-er, s-sorry, what?” You ask because really, you have no idea where you are so it’s only natural that the beasts here are able to talk, you mean, maybe? Gog you’re so confused right now.

“You are okay?” The snake hisses out in some weird way and wow the snake is talking.

“U-uh, yes. D-did you, er, save me?”

“Yessss.” Wow is this cool or what? You sure think so.

“W-well then, uh, thank you, I guess…? If you don’t mind me asking, er, where are we…?”

 

The giant slither-beast tilts its triangular-ish head for a moment, as if it doesn’t understand your question, before slowly answering.

 

“Thissss is a cavern near the bottom of what the two-legged onesss call the ‘Pacific Ocean’. You do not look like any of the two-legged ‘humanssss’ I have… met.”

 

You’re pretty sure that met wasn’t the word the serpent was going to originally use, but you decide that that doesn’t really matter in the first place.

 

“W-well, uh, that’s probably because i’m a troll… Um, m-my name is Tavros, do, uh, do you have a name?”

 

The beast makes a noise that sounds rather like a sigh. “I remember being called Jormungandr, long ago. I ssupose that must be my name. But that iss besidess the point. The tidesss are shifting, and as interesting as you are, I cannot keep you here much longer.” It leans it’s head down and looks you in the eye. “Hop atop my head, little troll, and I will take you back to the surface. I do believe we may meet again…”

 

“Um,” you go and climb on the snake’s head, careful to not kick it’s eye, and startle when you suddenly and speedily submerge and re-emerge above the ocean’s surface. You blink. Well, you're drenched again, and wow, is it bright. Before you realize it, Jormungandr has placed you on the beach and has gone back into the depths of the unexplored ocean floor. You stand up and look around.

 

Wherever you are, it isn’t where Sollux and Aradia dropped you off, because first off it’s a lot more sandy, and second Vriska isn’t anywhere. There’s what appears to be a forested area nearby, and this really is the most mild day time you’ve ever experienced, or maybe the brightest nighttime? Whichever it is, you know one thing for sure: this planet is weird. A strange caw-beast cries out from overhead, and there's no one around as far as you can see and -wait scratch that, you're surrounded by strange completely black humanoids with black- you think those are guns?- in their hands.

 

“Uh,” you say eloquently, because really, what else could you say in the current situation, when another one steps through the circle and stands in front of you. He -you think it’s a he- seems to be inspecting you as you shuffle from foot to foot awkwardly. Several minutes pass before the one who’s in front of you raises a hand to where you guess his ear is and you clearly hear as he says: 

“Agent Coulson reporting in, we’ve got another one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really super SUPER sorry for the horrible horrible unannounced hiatus! The year as been complete hell, and after everything happened (cat died, grandpa died, great-grandma nearly dying, etc., etc.,) I got suuuuuper lazy with everything, so this is another short chapter as I get my life in order. Again, really sorry, but I hope you all enjoy! (Also, do you guys think I should follow Movie cannon, Comic cannon, or should I make up my own cannon? I've been debating for a while.)


	11. Authors Note

Oh my gosh. I honestly feel really bad and horrible. I originally adopted this work and was ready to write, bursting with ideas, and then life happened. I know that some people would like my reasons, excuses really, while others don't. If you're one of those who doesn't, feel free to skip the list to the next part. If you do, here's why I've failed spectacularly at this fic:

1) I had to move houses.

2) My new house was in a different school district, and so I had to apply for a transfer to my original school.

3) After several stressful months of finals and hoping I'd get my transfer, I finally got my reply- just in time for me to rush through all my summer homework because I had to go to my dads, who's internet doesn't work half the time. 

4) After everything, and when I finally got my internet back, I had school, I was stressed, burned out, and my motivation was at an all time low.

 

So I'm so, so sorry for all the people who were wanting me to do something with this fic. If you want to adopt, go ahead and tell me and I'll let you take your own direction or you can have the old dusty Google Docs file I have. If not, just know that I'll do my best to do some posts but they'll probably be few and far between, and no where near the quality of the original authors lovely writing style. Once again, I'm so sorry, and thank you for reading this.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!! As said in the summary/description, this fic was adopted from an author on fanfiction.net (to that of which, this fic would have totally been posted there if it weren't for the fact that posting here is like, 1,000,000% easier for me) so if you like the fic so far, send your thanks to the author scritchscratchsketch! Because really, other than a few grammar corrections that they missed, the first eight chapters are purely their work. I claim nothing for the first eight, and everything else afterwards will be based off of their ideas and ideas based off of their ideas. So, hope you like so far, and enjoy the rest!


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